Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have officially signed a merger agreement worth $111 billion (~RM 432 billion). The official announcement came after Netflix pulled out yesterday after refusing to increase the $82.7 billion acquisition price agreed upon late last year. Despite failing to buy WBD, Netflix still received $2.8 billion in compensation if the original deal was canceled.
Through the Paramount and WBD merger, both studios were retained and continued to operate as independent studios. Each studio also committed to producing 15 films a year, which would remain in theaters for 45 days before being offered on PVOD platforms. The content produced can still be offered to third parties and they can also buy content from other studios.
Paramount now owns the assets of Warner Bros Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery networks, Discovery+ and Bleacher Report.
The merger would save $6 billion a year in costs through technology integration, systems consolidation, real estate, and operational efficiencies. As for employees, they face layoffs due to job duplication. Assets may also be sold to reduce the cost of owning the studio lot in Los Angeles.
