Deadline has confirmed that Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks on a possible merger.
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish and WBD boss David Zaslav sat down on December 19 at the former’s NYC HQ, a well place source tells Deadline, “It was all rather preliminary, ” the source says of the talks “Shari is on a bit of a listening tour to see what she might be able to get if she decides to sell the company or part of it,” he added, noting Redstone was not in the room with Zas and Bakish for the actual meeting. Redstone did have a separate conversation with Zaslav this week where the “role” of broadcast network CBS in any potential future deal was a major topic.
“Shari wants to sell,” an insider recently told Deadline.
“The studio could be sold in 15 minutes and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s sold in two years,” the insider added.
Wall Street didn’t have any immediate reaction to the deal. WBD stock slipped almost 6% during the regular trading day and was basically flat in after-hours trading. Paramount slid 2% and drifted down further after the session.
Word of the talks surfaced not long after Bloomberg reported that Paramount had also been discussing the potential sale of BET Networks. Potential buyers include BET CEO Scott Mills and finance executive Shinh Chu of CC Capital Partners. Paramount had previously fielded offers for BET but had pulled it back after determining that the bids were too low.
Both WBD and Paramount face significant issues with debt. Since the April 2022 closing of WarnerMedia’s $43 billion merger with Discovery, investors had pointed to the company’s debt as a concern. Shares in the merged company have been trading well below the price as of the deal close. Similarly, Paramount’s reunion of CBS and Viacom has not gone over well on the Street. The sinking stock price and questions about how the company would compete in streaming contributed to Redstone finally determining she would consider a sale, four years after she closed the deal after a years-long struggle.
Axios first reported on the news of talks between WBD and Paramount Global.
