Warner Bros Discovery Merger Closes, Altering Media Landscape
deadline.comDiscovery and WarnerMedia have closed their $43 billion merger, creating a top-scale media player and streaming contender and ending an ill-fated foray into entertainment by AT&T.The combination will unite such disparate assets as HBO, CNN and the nearly 100-year-old Warner Bros film studio with unscripted programming juggernauts like Food Network, HGTV and 90 Day Fiancé.
It is the most consequential media merger since Disney bought most of 21st Century Fox in 2019, and it leaves the kinds of questions that that mega-deal prompted about comings and goings in the executive ranks. (For now, the Discovery guard is largely in charge under CEO David Zaslav.
Toby Emmerich, Casey Bloys and Channing Dungey, heads of Warner Bros Pictures, HBO and Warner Bros TV, respectively, have gotten votes of confidence.)Under the all-stock, Reverse Morris Trust transaction, AT&T is getting a combination of cash, debt securities and WarnerMedia’s retention of some of its debt.
Shareholders in the telecom giant have gotten stock representing 71% of the new company. Discovery shareholders own 29% of the new company.
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