Discovery shareholders approve WarnerMedia deal

David Zaslav

Discovery’s shareholders have approved its acquisition of WarnerMedia.

The US$43 billion deal, announced in mid-2021, will see the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, a new standalone business which will house both company’s streaming businesses along with the iconic film studio Warner Bros.

As previously announced, Discovery staged a special shareholders meeting on March 11 to ratify the deal. 

While full results of the voting have not been revealed, Discovery confirmed that the proposals have been approved: “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.”

The acquisition is now set to close in early Q2 2022, subject to other customary closing conditions. It has already received a regulatory green light from the US Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the European Commission and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

Warner Bros. Discovery will be led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who is set to move to LA in order to run the company. 

In order to fund the deal, Discovery last week priced US$30 billion in senior unsecured notes in a debt offering.