Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies, Variety has confirmed.
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 on Tuesday in New York to discuss a possible merger, sources said. Zaslav also has spoken to Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements Inc. owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global, about a potential combination of the companies.
Reps for Paramount Global and WBD declined to comment. Axios first reported the talks.
Terms of a possible merger of the companies could not be learned. 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.
