Netflix Deal for Warner Bros. Pushes Global M&A Toward 2021 Peak

Global mergers and acquisitions are on pace for their best year since 2021, as a spate of late-year deals pushes deal volumes to well over $3 trillion.

Netflix Inc.’s $72 billion pact for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the year’s biggest acquisition including debt, underscores how corporate titans are swinging for bold, game-changing M&A under the deal-friendly Trump administration.

Dealmakers are betting that they have a once-in-a-generation chance to usher through their dream deals with little or minimal pushback from antitrust regulators. Companies have been able to tap record-breaking financing packages, including Netflix’s loan of $59 billion, which would ...