NEW YORK, Feb 28, (AP): Netflix is walking away from its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival. Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s latest offer to buy the entire company for $31 per share was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix.

Warner gave Netflix four business days to come up with a counteroffer - but Netflix instead responded less than two hours later, declining to raise its proposal. It said the new price it would have to pay made the deal "no longer financially attractive.” "We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.′ iconic brands," Netflix's co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement.

"But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.” A Paramount buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery would reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape. And unlike Netflix - which was only eyeing Warner’s studio and streaming business - Paramount wants the entire company.

That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like "Harry Potter” and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof as Paramount's CBS, "Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service. The prospect of such a combination, which will still need the green light from both Warner shareholders and regulators, poses both antitrust concerns and questions of political influence.

Netflix's decision to walk away on Thursday marks the latest development in a monthslong, messy corporate battle over Warner's future. Sarandos and Peters thanked Warner's leadership despite the final outcome. Warner had repeatedly backed the deal it struck with Netflix since December right up until Thursday evening, when its board continued to recommend Netflix even while calling Paramount's bid valued at about $111 billion including debt "superior.”

Netflix had previously put a $27.75 per share offer on the table for Warner’s studio and streaming business, totaling nearly $83 billion including debt. In a statement, CEO David Zaslav said Netflix executives had been "extraordinary partners” and that he wished them "well in the future.” After months of a heated back and forth amid Paramount's hostile campaign to take over Warner without the board's blessing, Warner also changed its tune about the remaining prospective buyer.