Has there ever been an M&A story as turbulent as Warner Bros Discovery, a merger that has quickly led to another split? For those following the news from the entertainment industry, the answer will likely be, “Yes, Paramount.” Seeing news break last week that the David Ellison-backed Skydance, now officially the owners of Paramount, could be exploring a merger deal with Warner Bros Discovery has caused some whiplash in the industry. We have Brandon Blake, Entertainment Lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A, with what we know so far.
Another Merger?
It has been reported that Paramount is already exploring a bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, only weeks after it finally closed its own M&A action with Skydance.
It’s hard not to draw some parallels to Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 – a deal widely held in the industry to be something of a misfire. However, with both the deep-pocketed Ellison family and their stake in Oracle to support the tech side, we could see different outcomes should it come to pass. Should the merger, still very much in speculative stages, go ahead, we would be looking at a single company controlling a vast swathe of IPs, from Harry Potter and beloved HBO franchises like Game of Thrones right through to the NFL on the live sports side and a wealth of Tom Cruise action movies. There’s also only one broadcast network to need scrutiny, which would make regulatory approval easier. Something Paramount is bound to appreciate.
Also, all of these entities currently have their own streaming platforms. Seeing a Paramount-WBD merger could well be the first truly meaningful elimination of a D2C streaming outlet yet. Plus, of course, another key question has to be what this would mean for David Zaslav himself, who has been notably reluctant to abandon the Warner stable or his leadership there.
An Early Advantage
With WBD gearing up for the planned split back into Discovery and Warner Bros. entities, a split currently expected to close in April 2026, we can assume Paramount is hoping to ward off interest from other parties who may be keen on acquiring either (or both).
However, would the deal appeal on the Warner side of the equation? We’ve only just seen the company come back to entertainment prominence after the severe layoffs and budget cuts that came with the Discover-Warner Bros. merger. In a year where Warner Bros has been one of the top names at the box office, there could be an understandable reluctance to plunge right back into the chaos and lose that recovered momentum, especially when Paramount’s own networks have been largely ignored throughout the convoluted merger process with Skydance.
Will we ultimately see WBD skip its planned split and instead opt for a merger deal for Paramount? To date, we have no formal statement from either company, and are operating purely on speculation. However, this will certainly be a story to watch in the coming months.
