Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) cleared a critical hurdle Thursday as its stockholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the company’s merger with Paramount Skydance Corporation (Nasdaq: PSKY) — pushing one of the most consequential media consolidation deals in recent memory closer to the finish line.
Shareholders Deliver a Strong Mandate
WBD held its Special Meeting of Stockholders earlier today, and the preliminary vote count left little ambiguity: shareholders backed the merger agreement with Paramount by an overwhelming margin. The company will file final certified vote results with the SEC on Form 8-K following confirmation by its independent inspector of election. With that shareholder hurdle now cleared, the transaction moves into its final stretch, targeting a close in Q3 2026 pending remaining regulatory clearances and customary closing conditions.
Board Chair Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr. welcomed the outcome and pointed directly to the value creation thesis driving the deal. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” Di Piazza said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav Frames It as the Culmination of a Four-Year Turnaround
For CEO David Zaslav, Thursday’s vote carries significance beyond the transaction itself. Over the past four years, Zaslav has aggressively restructured Warner Bros. Discovery following its own 2022 merger — cutting costs, reorganizing streaming strategy, and repositioning the company around its most durable IP. He framed the shareholder vote as validation of that work.
“Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders,” Zaslav said. “We will continue to work with Paramount to complete the remaining steps in this process that will create a leading, next-generation media and entertainment company.”
What the Combined Company Looks Like
The strategic logic behind the merger centers on scale. Warner Bros. Discovery already operates one of the entertainment industry’s deepest content libraries, spanning HBO, Max, CNN, DC, TNT, TBS, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, and dozens of other branded properties across television, film, streaming, and gaming. Adding Paramount’s portfolio to that foundation creates a combined entity with the IP depth, distribution reach, and content production capacity to compete more directly with Netflix, Disney, and Amazon in an increasingly consolidating streaming landscape.
What’s Next
With stockholder approval now secured, the remaining path to close runs through regulatory review. The deal targets Q3 2026, and both companies will work through the customary clearance process in the months ahead. Allen & Company, J.P. Morgan, and Evercore are advising WBD on the financial side, with Wachtell Lipton and Debevoise & Plimpton serving as legal counsel.
For investors watching WBD and PSKY, the focus now shifts to regulatory developments and any updated guidance on integration planning as the two companies prepare to operate as one.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of branded content across television, film, streaming and gaming. Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, HBO Max, discovery+, CNN, DC, TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
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