The outcome of the vote was in little doubt since the withdrawal, at the end of February, of Netflix, long in the race but which did not want to outbid after a last offer from Paramount Skydance.
Shareholders of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) voted by a majority in favor of the takeover of the American media group by its competitor Paramount Skydance during an extraordinary online general meeting this Thursday, according to a press release from WBD.
The outcome of the vote was in little doubt since the withdrawal, at the end of February, of Netflix, long in the race but which did not want to outbid after a last offer from Paramount Skydance (PSKY) valuing WBD at 110 billion dollars, debt included.
The two groups plan to finalize the transaction in the third quarter. Paramount Skydance has committed to paying penalties from the beginning of October in the event of delays. It remains to convince the regulators, in particular that of telecommunications in the United States, the FCC, and the European competition authorities.
The absorption of WBD by PSKY marks a new stage in the consolidation taking place in Hollywood, accelerated by the decline of traditional television and the weakening of the theatrical cinema model.
Concerns
No one better embodies this forced concentration than WBD boss David Zaslav, who had already led, at the head of Discovery, the takeover of WarnerMedia, in 2022, to create Warner Bros Discovery.
As the extraordinary general meeting approached, voices were raised to oppose this marriage. In mid-April, hundreds of personalities from the film industry published an open letter to this effect, expressing concern about a shrinking of the Hollywood landscape.
On Thursday, Zorhan Mamdani, the mayor of New York, where the headquarters of Warner Bros. Discovery is located, denounced this union, warning that “thousands of jobs (were) at risk” in the cultural capital of the United States. Like him, many observers fear a drain in the workforce because the two groups have similar profiles, with emerging streaming platforms but still uncertain profitability. Paramount Skydance has already indicated that its video-on-demand service, Paramount+, will be combined with that of WBD, HBO Max.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Paramount Skydance shares fell 4.87% shortly after the announcement of the results of the vote.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
