Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies, Variety has confirmed.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in a lunch meeting Tuesday in New York where they discussed a possible merger, sources said. Zaslav also has talked with Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements Inc. owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global, about a potential combination of the companies.
Terms of a possible merger of the companies could not be learned. Both companies have enlisted bankers but the status of the talks are described as very preliminary. As of the end of Q3, Paramount Global reported long-term debt of $15.6 billion, considerably less than WBD — whose debt load stood at $43.5 billion. But in terms of market value, Warner Bros. Discovery is the bigger fish, with a market capitalization of $28.4 billion as of close of trading Dec. 20 compared with $10.3 billion for Paramount Global.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount would be looking to pool their assets, which span TV, film, sports and streaming, to gain greater scale and operational efficiencies. Specifically, WBD and Paramount would have an interest in combining their Max and Paramount+ premium streaming services to better compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney’s Disney+ and Hulu.
On the film side, Warner Bros. Discovery would acquire top-tier properties from Paramount Pictures, including such film franchises as Terminator, Transformers, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, A Quiet Place, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Godfather, Paranormal Activity, Scream and Star Trek film franchises. The Warner Bros. Pictures stable includes the DC Extended Universe films, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movie franchises.