Netflix-Warner Bros, Trump's doubts: 'Merger could be a problem'
US President: 'They have a very high market share, we will see what happens'
Key points
US President Donald Trump has declared that the proposed $83 billion merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery "could pose a problem".
"Well, it will have to go through a process, and we'll see what happens," he told reporters on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Awards, in Washington, according to Nbc News. Speaking of Netflix, the White House tenant added: "They have a very high market share. When they have Warner Bros., that share goes way up."
The White House, therefore, views the transaction with scepticism. The American president is in fact a friend and ally of Larry Ellison, whose son David heads Paramount Discovery. The company had unsuccessfully submitted a bid to buy the entire Warner Bros Discovery, including CNN, one of the television networks most disliked by Trump. The connection between the White House and Ellison raises the possibility that the game is not yet definitely over. In fact, the antitrust division of Trump's Justice Department will have to examine the wedding, which involves the union of Netflix and its 300 million subscribers with Hbo, another streaming TV giant, and it is not excluded that it may raise competition concerns.
Informed Trump
According to BLoomberg news agency reports, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke with Donald Trump in November about his bid for the studios and streaming business of Warner Bros. Discovery. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, Sarandos explained to the president that Netflix was not a monopoly. Trump replied that Warner Bros. would have to 'sell to the highest bidder'.
L’operazione
On Friday, the announcement came: Netflix gets its hands on Warner Bros Discovery's studios and streaming business in a deal set to reshape Hollywood. The nearly $83 billion deal, including debt, comes at the end of a bidding battle. To buy Warner Bros Discovery, the company put up $27.75 per Warner Bros Discovery share, the majority ($23.25 per share) in cash. Netflix expects the transaction to close in 12-18 months, once it has completed its regulatory review and finalised the spin-off of Warner Bros' cable operations, including CNN, into a separate company called Discovery Global.
