Warner Bros. Investors Approve Deal With Paramount
The vote brings the tech scion David Ellison one step closer to uniting some of the world’s biggest news and entertainment properties.
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 had 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 shareholders had “overwhelmingly” voted to approve it.
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