The shareholders of Warner Bros they gave the green light to sale of the company to Paramount by pushing forward "by a very large majority" an operation 110 billion dollars which promises to radically reshape the media landscape. The "golden parachute" for the major label's CEO was rejected. David Zaslav, a massive $500 million compensation. The new entity, which still needs to receive the approval of regulatory authorities in both Washington and Europe, will include CNN, cbs, HBO e Nickelodeon, as well as some of Hollywood's most valuable franchises, including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the universe DC, Impossible mission e SpongeBob SquarePants.
Warner Bros.-Paramount: Rebellion Grows in Hollywood
However, it is growing rebellion in HollywoodRobert De Niro, Sofia Coppola, Holly Hunter and three thousand other celebrities have joined the thousand who in mid-April had signed a open letter against the acquisition arguing the risks it could cause for the jobs, the economic impact on consumers and a decrease in the number of films and TV series produced each year. A fear that Paramount had tried to deny by stating that it was committed to distribute 30 films a year in theaters and that the merged company would “approve more projects, championing bold ideas and bringing stories to audiences on a truly global scale.”
The appeal was launched on April 13th with, among the signatories, stars such as Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix e Ben Stiller: To date, members have reached 4.194, including more than 75 Oscar winners and nominees.
Warner Bros. announces sale to Paramount
Meanwhile, the acquisition has taken an important step forward: "The shareholder vote is another key step towards the completion of this historic transaction, which will generate exceptional value for our shareholders," said Zaslav, whose post-merger fate has not yet been announced.
With the billions of the Ellison family, Paramount had submitted its offer when there was already an agreement in place for the sale of Warner to Netflix: a bidding war broke out which ended when the streaming platform decided not to match the rival offer.
The agreement puts the Ellison family in the hands of – Larry, David's father who nominally led the takeover, is a friend of Donald Trump – a global constellation of media assets. The agreement, which was contributed to three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi – expects Paramount to pay $31 per share in cash for all outstanding Warner shares, with a share price of $81 billion – rising to $110 billion when including the significant debt Paramount will assume. If the authorities approve the deal – in addition to the Department of Justice, which has not yet made a decision – The European Commission is examining the merger, as well as several American states, including California – Ellison will be forced to start a painful phase of cost cuts to reduce debt.
