Warner Bros. Investors Approve $110 Billion Sale to Paramount
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted on Thursday to approve the acquisition of the company by Paramount Skydance. The merger will bring two of Hollywood's oldest film studios under one umbrella and reshape the landscape of the American entertainment industry. The vote by WBD shareholders in favor of the $110 billion deal was expected after unanimous support from the boards of both entertainment giants.
WBD CEO David Zaslav said, “Shareholder approval is another key milestone in completing this historic transaction, which will deliver exceptional value to shareholders.”
Paramount Skydance’s offer is $31 per share, valuing WBD at approximately $77 billion, and the acquisition target includes Warner Bros. Pictures, the HBO Max streaming platform, and a series of cable television channels such as CNN, TBS, and TNT.
After the merger, the two companies will possess a vast library of intellectual property, ranging from Paramount’s “The Godfather” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” to WBD’s “Casablanca” and the “Harry Potter” series.
However, the deal still requires approval from the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust regulators. In addition, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating the transaction and may launch a separate legal challenge.
The deal has also faced growing opposition from Democratic lawmakers, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, as well as prominent figures in Hollywood’s creative community.
More than 4,000 actors, directors, writers, and producers have jointly signed an open letter strongly opposing the merger, arguing that it will harm an “already stressed industry, much of the stress stemming from previous rounds of consolidation.”
The signatories wrote in the letter, “This deal will further exacerbate an already highly concentrated media landscape, weakening competition, which is the last thing our industry and the audiences we serve can afford.”
Paramount Skydance refuted this, insisting that the merger “enhances consumer choice and market competition, creating more opportunities for creators, audiences, and the communities where they live and work.”
Paramount CEO David Ellison sought to reassure film industry professionals, promising a theatrical window of at least 45 days and a combined release of 30 films per year by the two studios. He stated that Warner Bros. Pictures would remain independently operated.
Ellison, 43, is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a close ally of former President Donald Trump. Trump has publicly praised the Ellison family and called for a change in CNN’s ownership, raising concerns from Warren about “political favoritism.”
The head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division told Reuters in March that Paramount Skydance “absolutely will not” receive a green light based on political considerations.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Omid Afshar said, “The idea that enforcement is being politicized is absurd.”
In the bidding war for WBD, Ellison and his investors defeated Netflix, which withdrew from the bidding against Paramount Skydance in late February.
However, Netflix did not leave empty-handed. Paramount Skydance paid the streaming giant $2.8 billion in a termination fee, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.