Discovery shareholders have approved the company’s merger with WarnerMedia from AT&T to create Warner Bros. The company announced Friday that Discovery was being acquired by WarnerMedia from AT&T.
AT&T shareholders do not need to vote on the merger. The merger is expected to close within the next few weeks of the second quarter 2022.
“The transaction will bring together WarnerMedia’s premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s leading nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses,”Discovery Inc. stated in a statement.
“At the Special Meeting of Discovery Stockholders held earlier today, based on estimated preliminary voting results, Discovery stockholders voted to approve the charter amendment proposals, share issuance proposal and the advisory (non-binding) compensation proposal. The approvals mark the completion of one of the few remaining closing conditions for the merger. These preliminary voting results will be updated through the filing of a Current Report on Form 8-K to reflect the final certification of results from the Inspector of Election.”
The Boards of Directors of both AT&T and Discovery have approved the transaction. Last month, the merger passed its most difficult hurdle with approval from U.S. antitrust regulators.
AT&T is spinning off WarnerMedia in a $43 billion deal with Discovery, Inc. David Zaslav, the long-serving Discovery chief, will lead the new company. It will trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as WBD and will be known under the name Warner Bros. Discovery is the combined name of both entities.
When the merger was announced by AT&T last May, the full valuation of the combined company was estimated at $130 billion. Warner Bros. was the new name given to the combined entities. Discovery.
The merger will put Warner Bros., CNN, Turner and Discovery’s stable of nonfiction networks under one roof — as well as two competing streaming services, Discovery+ and HBO Max. It also combines WarnerMedia’s U.S. sports rights like the NBA, MLB and March Madness with Discovery international sports giant Eurosport.
