Warner Bros. Discovery said on Thursday that its investors had voted to combine with Paramount, another step toward a deal that has been met with significant opposition in Hollywood.
The vote clears away one of the final barriers to a $111 billion acquisition that would concentrate ownership of two major movie studios and a global news network, CNN, under the leadership of the tech scion David Ellison. The approval has been expected for months, after Netflix pulled out of its own bid for major parts of Warner Bros. in February.
The approval was announced in a brisk meeting run by Samuel DiPiazza, chairman of Warner Bros. Discovery’s board of directors. After the acquisition proposal was outlined, Tara Smith, the company’s corporate secretary, said that shareholders had “overwhelmingly” voted to approve it.
Mr. DiPiazza said that the vote on the deal was preliminary until formally certified, a process that is expected to conclude in short order.
The vote on Thursday does not end the wrangling over the deal. Paramount has said it expects to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery later this year, pending approval from government regulators. The Justice Department has not yet given its blessing, and the deal must also pass muster with international regulators.
But the deal has already been met with opposition from hundreds of directors, producers and actors, who last week released an open letter saying it would be harmful for Hollywood’s creative community and urging Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, to continue scrutinizing it.
Paramount sought to assuage them in a statement, saying that it was committed to releasing 30 films in theaters annually and that the combined company would “greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale.” After the vote Thursday, Paramount said it was looking forward to closing its deal in the coming months.
Near the end of the meeting, Ms. Smith said that shareholders voted to reject a compensation proposal for the Warner Bros. Discovery leadership team that amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and stock. That vote, which is advisory in nature, won’t derail the payouts.
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
The post Warner Bros. Investors Approve Deal With Paramount appeared first on New York Times.
