The merger between Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount appears to be all over but the voting.
Warner Bros Discovery said Thursday shareholders will vote on its planned $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance on April 23. The vote brings the companies a step closer to completing the deal that would reshape the media landscape.
According to a report from Reuters, the OK from investors would move the deal forward, though it would still face intense scrutiny from U.S. and European competition authorities who must assess whether the combined entity will increase prices for customers or hurt competition.
Paramount hopes to close the deal quickly, promising to pay Warner Bros shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” starting in October if the deal has not closed, according to Reuters.
The merger, the latest of several consolidations in the media sector, will solidify CEO David Ellison’s status as one of the industry’s most influential studio owners after he also steered Skydance’s $8.4 billion purchase of Paramount.
According to Reuters, analysts think Paramount faces an easier road to regulatory approval in part because of Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s ties with President Donald Trump.
However, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division, Omeed Assefi, told Reuters politics won’t have anything to do with it.
