Despite the questionable decisions and mixed public reception of Warner Bros. Discovery In the last year, the company is in a good financial position. Being valued at more than $29 billion dollars, and reducing its debt, a new report has revealed that this company is looking to merge with Paramount.
According to a report by Axios, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount Global, met last Tuesday in New York, where they discussed a possible merger between the two companies. Zaslav also had a meeting with Shari Redstone, CEO of National Amusements Inc., Paramount's parent company. Although there is no clear information at the moment, there is a great possibility that this will take place.
To start, Zaslav told investors that the company's cost and debt reduction measures have given them the opportunity to “allocate more capital to growth opportunities.” Likewise, the tax provision used to merge WarnerMedia and Discovery expires next year, which would legally allow Warner Bros. Discovery to explore another such deal.
Along with this, it has been mentioned that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount have good synergy, since the properties and platforms of both companies complement each other. The biggest example is their streaming services. If they merge, the content we find on these platforms, or on one that combines both, could compete with Netflix and Disney+.
However, This is not an equal purchase.. Not only is Warner Bros. Discovery valued at $29 billion, while Paramount is only valued at $10 billion, but those responsible for distributing films like Scream 7 and Mission Impossible are under enormous pressure to find a partner or strategic buyer, this while facing a mountain of debt.
At the moment there is no official information from Warner Bros. Discovery or Paramount, and considering the time of year, It is very likely that we will have more information about it until next year. However, the possibility of this merger taking place has not been ruled out. On related topics, the second season of Andor It has been delayed. Likewise, it has been confirmed Saw XI.
Editor's Note:
Paramount is in a tough situation, and while I'm not a fan of the idea of them merging with Warner Bros. Discovery, especially considering their decisions over the last year and the cancellation of productions ready for release, it seems like this is the only one path that the company can take if it wants to continue competing against the greats in this industry.
Via: Axios
#Warner #Bros #Paramount #merge #Atomix