# Paramount on course to win Warner Bros takeover tussle as Netflix withdraws

By Dan Coatsworth — 2026-02-27

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “Any good TV show or film needs a twist at the end to surprise viewers, and Netflix has delivered it once again.

“Just as it looked as if Netflix had the Warner Bros deal all sewn up, it decides to walk away after Paramount upped its price for a competing offer.

“The jump in Netflix’s share price in pre-market trading says it all.

“Investors are happy it isn’t getting carried away in the bidding war and is showing discipline. That could win the board some brownie points.

“Netflix has come a long way through primarily organic growth augmented by a few small bolt-on deals.

“Transformational deals haven’t been Netflix’s style, and there was always a chance that buying Warner Bros could have backfired if there were cultural differences and it overpaid.

“Netflix saw an opportunity to obtain a rich library of content and important production facilities.

“It gave the deal a lot of thought and decided it was worth a try.

“But it hasn’t worked, so it simply moves on with an existing strategy that could continue to deliver big bucks.

“It might be good news for people with a Netflix subscription.

“Should it have bought Warner Bros, there was a real chance that Netflix charged customers a lot more to help pay for the deal by justifying the price hikes on providing richer content.

“While Netflix customers are no longer getting their hands on Harry Potter and other Warner Bros content, they probably aren’t in line for massive price hikes, either.

“They might see that as a win, given there’s already plenty of choice on Netflix for stuff to watch.”

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