A Warner-Paramount mega merger has received shareholders’ stamp of approval, propelling a deal that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape closer to the finish line.
Per a preliminary vote count on Thursday, the overwhelming majority of Warner Bros Discovery shareholders voted in support of selling the entire business to Paramount for $US31 a share, the company said.
Including debt, the deal is valued at nearly $US111 billion ($A155 billion).
Skydance-owned Paramount wants to buy all of Warner.
That means HBO Max, cult-favourite titles like Harry Potter and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof with CBS, Top Gun and the Paramount+ streaming service.
A green light from company shareholders increases the likelihood of that becoming a reality.
But it’s not a done deal quite yet.
The acquisition still faces ongoing regulatory reviews.
Warner has said it expects to close sometime in the third fiscal quarter.
Meanwhile, Warner shareholders rejected a separate measure on Thursday that outlined post-merger payments for company executives.
Paramount’s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing.
And while Warner’s board now endorses the Paramount merger, it was not always eager to enter this particular marriage.
Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount’s overtures to instead strike a $US72 billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix.
Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want.
All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table.
Warner’s board repeatedly backed Netflix’s bid.
But eventually, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly bowed out of the race rather than prolonging the fight.
That corporate drama may now be over but the implications remain.
Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers.
Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment called Warner shareholders’ vote to advance the merger a “serious setback” on Thursday – but maintained the “fight is far from over”.
In a statement, the advocacy group pointed to past efforts to challenge consolidation and maintained “a handful of powerful decision-makers should not be allowed to quietly reshape American media, culture, and creative life without accountability”.