Warner Bros. Discovery’s hopes of merging with fellow media titan Paramount Global have ended with “pencils down,” according to CNBC.
The two entertainment giants had been in discussions for months, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish meeting in New York City last December, according to Axios. Zaslav has also spoken with Shari Redstone, Paramount’s chairwoman. Redstone controls 77% of Paramount’s voting shares through its parent company, National Amusements, which she owns.
The two companies engaged in serious merger discussions last month before the talks wound down in recent weeks. A mega-merger between the media giants would have created one of the world’s largest media companies.
Warner Bros. Discovery owns the news service CNN, the streaming platform Max — formerly known as HBO Max — and the Warner Bros. film studios. Paramount has its own Hollywood studio, CBS, MTV, and a series of TV stations and brands, including Nickelodeon and BET.
With Warner Bros. Discovery shuttering negotiations, Paramount is left fielding offers from several other suitors. The company has even set up a special committee to sift through bids for Paramount or specific assets, CNBC reported.
Redstone has been more open to offers recently as her holdings struggle against economic headwinds, meeting with a series of firms, including Amazon, Apple, and Netflix. Last year, National Amusements reached a deal with creditors to restructure some of its debt and sold Simon & Schuster to a private equity firm for $1.62 billion.
Skydance Media, the film production company behind hit movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, is performing due diligence on a potential transaction, CNBC reported. The studio — run by David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison — recently made a preliminary offer to purchase National Amusements.
Allen Media Group, the media company founded by TV personality-turned-mogul Byron Allen, has pitched a $14.3 billion offer to buy Paramount. Allen has also offered to buy Paramount’s existing debt, pushing the total value of the deal to about $30 billion, according to Bloomberg News.
However, the media mogul has a history of failing to follow through on his offers to companies ranging from the NFL’s Washington Commanders to Disney’s ABC.
Comcast, the owner of NBCUniversal, has also met with Paramount Global to discuss streaming options, such as creating a joint streaming app featuring their respective streaming platforms, Peacock and Paramount Plus.
Representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately return Quartz’s request for comment. Paramount Global declined to comment.