Ted Sarandos explains why Netflix dropped its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery dropped

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Sunday that he knew “immediately” he would reject Paramount’s winning bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery to buy counter. David Ellisonmade a superior offer.

Netflix dropped its bid for Warner Bros. on Thursday. Discovery are falling after the company announced that Paramount’s latest bid to buy all its assets, including CNN, was “superior.”

“We had a very tight margin that we would be willing to pay and we made that offer when we closed this deal. We didn’t change much of that other than moving to cash, which got the deal done faster. I’m happy where we came in and happy where we came out,” Sarandos said. told Bloomberg.

“When we got word on Thursday that they had made a superior offer, we knew immediately, as well as the details of that deal,” he continued. “We knew exactly what we were going to do.”

NETFLIX WITHDRAWAL FROM WARNER BROS BIDDING WAR AFTER PARAMOUNT MADE ‘SUPERIOR’ OFFER

In December, Warner Bros. announced announced that it had reached a deal with Netflix to buy the Hollywood studio and HBO for $83 billion, prompting Paramount to launch a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for the entire company, including all its cable assets such as CNN, which would have been spun off into a separate company under the Netflix deal.

Sarandos introduced that president Donald Trump was interested in the deal largely because of CNN, the news network he has long criticized.

“Once it was clear that we weren’t in the CNN business, it was a lot less interesting. He didn’t really care about our deal anymore,” he said.

“It would lead to less production and fewer people working,” Sarandos told Bloomberg.

MOOD IS ‘GREAT’ WITHIN CNN AS STAFF FOR CHANGE AGAINST POTENTIAL TAKEOVER, INSIDERS SAY

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Bloomberg that he was “happy where we came out” with the bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery to buy. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)

Paramount’s revised offer increased WBD’s value to $31 per share, bringing the company’s valuation to $111 billion. Paramount will additionally pay Netflix’s $2.8 billion termination fee after WBD pulled out of their deal.

Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, is personally backing Paramount’s bid, committing $45.7 billion in equity through the Ellison Trust, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and Apollo will provide a $57.5 billion debt commitment.

The Netflix honcho also said Paramount has major regulatory hurdles to overcome.

“Even as we thought about keeping these companies together and running, we knew we were facing a difficult task in terms of integration. I can’t imagine doing all that and trying to save billions and billions of dollars. Today, Paramount has half the number of people they had a year ago. So that gives you an idea of ​​where this is going for the city and for the company,” Sarandos said.

Last month, Trump called for Netflix to be fired board member Susan Rice immediately or “pay the consequences” after the former Obama official warned that companies she said “broke” under Republican pressure should not expect forgiveness from Democrats if they return to power.

PARAMOUNT REFUSES TO RETURN TO WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY TAKEOVER FIGHT AGAINST NETFLIX

According to Ted Sarandos, President Donald Trump largely lost interest in the Netflix deal when CNN was not involved. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Sarandos told Bloomberg that he had spoken to Rice but never considered removing her from the board.

CNN has largely embraced anti-Trump programming over the past decade, and the president has responded by regularly publicly criticizing the network. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reports this that Ellison told Trump officials he would make sweeping changes to CNN if he became its owner.

A CNN insider said they were trying to keep an “open mind” but said it’s easy to understand why staffers are upset given reports of Ellison and Trump discussing changes.

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO