Warner Bros. approves merger with Paramount

BarcelonaThe saga surrounding the sale of Warner Bros. is nearing its end. Today, the media group's board of shareholders approved the merger with Paramount Skydance, as explained by the company in a statement. Paramount had remained the sole potential buyer after Netflix withdrew its offer this February. The streaming platform's board of directors considered that attempting to match or exceed the money offered by Paramount was not justified.

The shareholders' board approval paves the way for Paramount to acquire Warner Bros. for 110 billion dollars, a deal that will make it the owner of assets such as the HBO cable channel, the HBO Max streaming platform, and the film and television studios of Warner Bros., DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV, and Discovery+.

The vote still needs to be formally certified and the transaction must be approved by government regulators. Both companies expect the transaction to become effective in the third quarter of 2026.

The board of shareholders has approved the merger despite opposition from many sectors of Hollywood. Recently, about two thousand artists from the film industry, including Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Mark Ruffalo, and Rose Byrne, signed a letter expressing their opposition to the merger. The signatories denounced that the operation will harm an already struggling entertainment industry, leading to "fewer opportunities for creators, less employment in the production ecosystem, higher costs, and fewer options for the public" both in the United States and globally.