Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke at a UBS media conference Monday and gave an update on the Warner Bros. Discovery deal. “We’re super confident we’re going to get it across the line and finish,” Sarandos said
Sarandos’ comments come after this morning’s news that Paramount is making a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming that the Netflix deal isn’t in the best interest of shareholders.
Netflix leadership seemed unfazed by the press release. “Today’s move was entirely expected,” Sarandos said, according to a report from Deadline. “We have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal. It’s great for shareholders, great for consumers. We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry.”
Also during the conference, Sarandos spoke about meeting with President Trump to get him on board with the acquisition. “The president’s interests in this are the same as ours, which is to create and protect jobs,” he said, according to Business Insider, noting that he’s talked with Trump “many times since the election.”
Paramount CEO David Ellison’s own relationship with the President has been a talking point throughout the bidding process for WBD, and the company was noted as the clear frontrunner at the end of November.
In the hostile bid press release Monday morning, Paramount called Netflix out as being anti-consumer and anti-competition. Ellison said “We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry. We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.”
Sarandos responded during the UBS conference, saying that the deal would benefit the labor market and that Netflix is committed to theatrical releases for Warner Bros. films “exactly the way they’ve released those movies today.”