Santander and BBVA co-finance Netflix’s cash offer with 3.8 billion

Santander and BBVA have doubled their financing to Netflix to $3.8 billion to support the acquisition of Warner Bros. for $27.75 per share in cash. The Spanish bank is thus positioned as a key actor in the most significant consolidation operation for the global audiovisual sector, in the midst of a battle to reconfigure the streaming market.

How it works. The financial structure rests on a trio of international banks. Wells Fargo leads the credit union with the highest documented individual commitment for an investment grade acquisition, accompanied by the French BNP Paribas and the British HSBC. Between the three of them they have extended the initial bridge loan up to 42.2 billion dollars.

What do the Spanish do? In this context, Santander commits to 2,672 million dollars divided into two blocks: 1,360 million in the bridge loan and 1,312 million in the long-term financing agreed in December. BBVA, for its part, offers 1,088 million: 510 million in the transitional loan and 578 million in the permanent lines.

Other entities. Along with the Spanish entities, there are the French Société Générale, the German Commerzbank, the Canadians RBC, Banco de Montreal and Scotiabank, the Japanese Mizuho and MUFG, as well as Morgan Stanley, PNC Bank and Standard Chartered. The union brings together fifteen institutions that share the risk of an operation without comparable precedents in the recent history of the audiovisual industry. The Spanish participation, although secondary compared to Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas and HSBC, consolidates the presence of both entities in the corporate financing segment in the US.

Seeking internationalization. The presence of Santander and BBVA in financing Netflix illustrates the internationalization strategy of both entities in large-scale operations linked to technology and media. For example, Santander announced in December 2025 a strategic alliance with MoffettNathanson to strengthen its sector analysis in technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) in the United States. and BBVA closed 2024 with record revenue of 3,194 million euros in the first half of 2025, driven by investment banking and corporate financing operations.

All in cash. On January 20, Netflix modified the initial structure of its offer for the purchase, which combined money and shares of the platform. Now, Netflix values ​​the operation at 83,000 million dollars through an all-cash offer of $27.75 per share. Paramount, meanwhile, maintains a hostile offer of 108 billion dollars at $30 per share. Netflix wants exclusively the movie studios and HBO Max, excluding the cable TV business. This division will create an independent company, Discovery Global, which will be listed on the stock exchange and whose shares will be delivered to current Warner shareholders.

When will we know something? Warner’s board of directors has rejected Paramount’s proposal eight times, calling it “insufficient value”. Netflix’s offer, on the other hand, has the unanimous support of Warner management. Shareholders must vote by April 2026, according to the accelerated schedule following the conversion of Netflix’s proposal to cash.

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