Chief exec says he remains ‘confident’ that $111bn Paramount deal will close during comments on Q2 earnings call
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) chief exec David Zaslav expects the Paramount merger to close but admitted to a “challenging” period for the company’s employees.
“We’re confident this transaction will close,” Zaslav said during an analyst call on Thursday, following results that showed an uptick in profits for streamer HBO Max.
“We’ve been trying to drive the value of the company to deliver to PSky [Paramount] and David [Ellison] the best company possible. The company is performing at a very high level [.]”
Zaslav also praised WBD’s 40,000-strong global workforce during the call with analysts. “The overall culture and the work ethic at this company has been inspiring,” he said, adding: “It has been challenging.”
Early on Thursday, the UK antitrust watchdog cleared the merger.
As widely reported in Hollywood, there are WBD and Paramount staffers who privately want the merger to fail, fearing the inevitable job losses around duplicative roles should the transaction close.
Zaslav stands to receive a golden parachute of more than $550m should Paramount either settle or win its antitrust trial against 12 US attorneys general and Writers Guild of America next spring.
He can also walk away from the transaction if it has stalled by 4 June 2027 and WBD would collect a $7bn termination fee.
Zaslav also said that he was not looking to tinker with the DC Studios strategy after June release Supergirl flopped on $126m at the worldwide box office, the lowest-grossing DC release in more than two decades.
The global linear networks segment also provided disappointing results with ongoing decline, a pattern seen across the industry. Revenues fell 17% to $3.9bn, and advertising dropped by 27% to $1.4bn. Adjusted EBITDA fell 4% to $1.4bn.
Zaslav told analysts that Warner Bros Television has more than 80 shows on air with multiple platforms, while upcoming HBO Max highlights for 2027 include S2 of A The Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, S3 of The Last Of Us, and S4 of The White Lotus.
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