Paramount Skydance wins bidding war to buy Warner Bros.

(The Center Square) – Netflix announced Thursday it dropped its $83 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. That clears the way for Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros., which would merge Paramount in Hollywood and Warner Bros. in Burbank for the first time. The iconic studios are about 8 miles from each other and have been around since the early 20th century. Warner Bros. is known for everything from Bugs Bunny and “Casablanca” to the Superman and Harry Potter movies, and Paramount has served as the home to the “Star Trek” and “Mission Impossible” franchises since the 1960s. Warner Bros. Discovery’s board told Netflix earlier Thursday that Paramount Skydance’s $31-per-share offer was better than Netflix's offer. At the time, Warner Bros. Discovery issued a statement saying it remained interested in its Warner Bros. assets being purchased by Netflix. But Netflix, the world’s largest streaming service, responded it wouldn’t try to match Paramount’s bid. “The transaction we negotiated would ha