$111 billion spent on a "total loss": Paramount (PSKY.US) narrowly wins, Netflix (NFLX.US) avoids bullets.

The Hollywood Century merger battle that attracted global attention has come to an end, with Paramount Skydance's total of $111 billion new acquisition proposal laughing last, but it was a battle that no one won. Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX.US) rejected on Thursday a raised offer for the majority of Warner Bros. Discovery's assets, handing over the Hollywood conglomerate to rival bidder Paramount Skydance (PSKY.US). Despite the extremely tight safeguards included in this deal, the $111 billion price tag still carries the risk of continuing the trend of losses. Warner Bros. announced that Paramount's all-cash offer of $31 per share was better than their previous agreement with Netflix at $27.75 per share. This deal leaves behind the dwindling broadcast networks, which will be stripped of their value with questionable worth and burdened with debt. This battle largely became about mapping out a clear path for the deal, just as much as it was about the money. Paramount's ability to digest a much larger studio, its vast film library and intellectual property, as well as the accompanying television assets, raised serious concerns, including those from Netflix and Warner Bros.' board of directors. Boss David Ellison ultimately used his billionaire father Larry Ellison to alleviate concerns, which Netflix failed to do. Before the deal was finalized, the burden fell on the elder Ellison, founder of Oracle Corporation, whose stake in this cloud computing giant actually backed the bid. However, even if Paramount achieves its promised $6 billion in synergies, merging its expected revenues with Warner's, and with taxes, implies a return of less than 6%. Cost cuts could still trigger political opposition, and the merger could attract antitrust scrutiny, regardless of how close the Ellison family is to President Trump. Meanwhile, the interest costs remain a mystery. Given Warner Bros.'s struggles under heavy borrowing pressure following its merger with Discovery Channel nearly four years ago, these interest costs seem ominous. In the five years before the deal negotiations surfaced, its stock price had fallen by about half. One consolation is that Warner Bros. Discovery is finally turning things around. Last year saw a doubling of streaming profits for its crown jewel HBO. Even so, Netflix may have dodged a bullet in the merger process; after its bid was dropped, its stock price jumped by 10%. Warner Bros.' deal can only partially offset the losses Some wounds will continue to exist. This $360 billion company led by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters has already attracted attention from authorities. A group of state attorneys general expressed concerns about the merger plan, while the Department of Justice launched an investigation, focusing on Netflix's potential market power. Warner chairman David Zaslav at least received a staggering premium of nearly 150%, along with exceptionally strict terms to compensate any investors who held out until now. Of course, this generosity overlooks the expensive opportunity cost, as the S&P 500 index has risen by 80% in the past five years. The casualties of this war will linger in the long term.