Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to acquire Paramount Global
“Warner Bros. Discovery” is in talks to merge with Paramount Global. Negotiations are still preliminary. There is speculation that NBCUniversal will end up in merger talks with Comcast.
On December 20, 2566, CNBC reported, citing sources, that Warner Bros. Discovery, a major global entertainment media company, and Paramount Global, a US media and entertainment company, were in early merger negotiations.
Sources say that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount CEO Bob Bakish met on Tuesday (December 19, 2566) to discuss the outline of a possible deal. The negotiations were only preliminary, and the agreement may not materialize.
The news comes amid heated speculation about Paramount's future. Controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is reportedly keen to make a deal. Redstone controls Paramount through its subsidiary National Amusements. Recently, Redstone held talks with David Ellison's Skydance, which is backed by Gerry Cardinale's investment firm RedBird.
Paramount, whose assets include the movie studio of the same name and broadcast network CBS, also has a heavy debt load.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery, the result of the merger between Warner Media and Discovery, has cut costs and reduced debt under Zaslav. Since then, the company has stated that its streaming business has become profitable, while other streamers besides the leader Netflix are struggling to recover from losses.
Last month, John Malone of Zaslav and Liberty Media, a shareholder and board member of Warner Bros. Discovery, appeared to indicate that The company is preparing to become an acquirer by 2567 or 2568. The broader media industry is widely considered ripe for consolidation. But media executives are concerned that President Joe Biden's administration could be hostile to large media mergers.
There is also industry speculation that Warner Bros. Discovery might end up in merger negotiations with NBCUniversal's Comcast.
