Paramount had also received a $14 billion offer in January, but so far there has been no progress.
Warner Bros. Discovery would be backing down on the possible acquisition of Paramount Globalby stopping talks after several months of postpone the merger from media companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
Skydance Mediathe film and television studio run by David Ellisonis still conducting due diligence on a possible transactionsaid two of the people, who asked to speak anonymously because talks about the deal are private.
The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, had a preliminary conversation with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish, CNBC reported in December. The companies entered into more serious merger talks in January, but Talks cooled off this month.
Warner Bros. Discovery Stock fell 10% on Friday after the company missed analyst targets for earnings and revenue. The stock has fallen 47% in the past year and is near a 52-week low.
Paramount Global is also trading near a 52-week low as it prepares to announce earnings on Wednesday.
The offers that Paramount Global received
Paramount Global created a special committee, which in turn hired its own financial advisor, to examine possible offers for the entire company or certain assets. Media mogul Byron Allen offered 14 billion dollars for the company last month, although it has a history of bidding and not buying large media assets.
Comcast, owner of NBCUniversalCNBC parent company is not interested in acquiring assets from Paramount Global, one of the people said. Comcast has been working with internal bankers to explore a potential business partnership with Paramount Global.
That could include bundle or merge streaming services Peacock and Paramount+, as The Wall Street Journal previously reported, or a different deal. Still, it’s unclear if Paramount Global would have interest in this as it’s exploring sales scenarios.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
