Both companies surprised the industry this Monday by announcing a merger by which they will combine all their assets to create a giant capable of shaking the market.
Just a few hours after Bloomberg revealed the merger plans between WarnerMedia and Discovery, both companies surprised the industry this Monday morning during the opening of the financial markets by confirming the reports and making their merger official.
As detailed, the new and combined company will be led by David Zaslav, current CEO of Discovery, and will be integrated as follows: 71% by WarnerMedia shareholders and 29% by Discovery shareholders.
The plan is to complete the merger by mid-2022, if it is approved by the regulatory authorities.
Although unexpected, the merger will create a production, distribution and media giant capable of rivaling (and surpassing) giants like Netflix, Disney or NBCUniversal.
Recently, both companies have rolled out their OTT strategies with the launches of HBO Max and Discovery+.
The merger could well unite both platforms and generate one of the most robust offerings on the market.
