There's currently a lot of discussion about the potential merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance. However, nothing is set in stone yet, and the authorities could still reject it. If the antitrust authorities really do say "no" to the Paramount Skydance merger, it would be actually better for Warner.
David Zaslav would be forced to take the radical step: the breakup, he was planning anyway. The dying TV channels would be spun off, along with most of the debt, leaving only a content studio. This would allow Warner to invest and would likely be highly valued on the stock market because the. And that brings us to the second point.
Even though it's unclear, a streamlined Warner would attract attention, perhaps again from Netflix, or even bigger, from tech giants. The biggest tech companies might want this Warner, something I can imagine Apple doing. If that happens, Warner would have hit the jackpot. Everyone could significantly reduce or even completely eliminate the remaining debt. And even if it doesn't get the approval from the authorities, the new Warner would at least be viable on its own.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it doesn't seem that unlikely. What's your opinion?
by Judokos
1 Comment
They won’t have $110 billion in debt to deal with, for one. And will continue to exist as a major.
My thinking is simple. They’re in too deep to not sell, and Paramount’s deal being a ticking time bomb doesn’t change that. Deal dies, WBD stock craters. And then it gets interesting. Suddenly Apple could be back in the running, as would Netflix for a fraction of the cost. Who wins there is anyone’s guess. But neither want CNN. Ellison does, and can likely take the Disco networks too.
(Turner will stay with Warners and it’s new owner under Split 2.0. March Madness and Cartoon Network bring in too much money to give up.)
Either under Netflix or Apple, a WB Streaming/Studios deal becomes much less of an antitrust nightmare. Of course, if Netflix want back in, they might have to spin off Max…