Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve merger with Paramount

by · UPI

April 23 (UPI) -- Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to give their preliminary blessing to the long-debated merger with Paramount Skydance Wednesday morning.

Paramount's offer to buy all of WBD for $31 per share is bound to make shareholders happy as one year ago the Warner Bros. stock was trading at $8 per share. Thursday morning, it was hovering around $27.

Netflix and Paramount have been battling over WBD since October. They had a bidding war, and WBD accepted Netflix's offer on Dec. 5. Soon after, Paramount launched a hostile bid to buy WBD, but the board wasn't interested. Then, Paramount announced that billionaire Oracle creator Larry Ellison would back the deal with $40 billion in equity. On Jan. 20, Netflix changed its offer to all cash, then on Feb. 10, Paramount did the same and added some extras.

Netflix granted WBD a seven-day pause on the deal to evaluate Paramount's offer, and during that time, Paramount raised the bid even more to $31 per share.

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In late February, Netflix ceded defeat to Warner Bros.

"This transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price," said Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters in a statement.

The merger would add Warner Bros.' cable TV networks like TNT, CNN and Discovery Channel, as well as its streaming service HBO Max and the Warner Bros. film studio to the Paramount umbrella.

The companies are expected to close the deal in the third quarter of 2026.

"Shareholder approval marks another important milestone toward completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, building on our successful equity and debt syndications and progress across regulatory approvals," Paramount said in a statement Thursday. "We look forward to closing the transaction in the coming months and realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company that better serves both the creative community and consumers."

Ellison told advertisers Tuesday, "Our goal is to build a leading media and entertainment company that strengthens competition, better serves the creative community and delivers even more compelling stories to audiences around the world. We're doing exactly that by investing in great content and attracting and empowering exceptional talent, both in front of and behind the camera, and equipping our people with cutting-edge technology that enables them to do their best work."

This week in Washington

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services proposed fiscal year budget for 2027 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo