April 16 2022: AT&T Inc's WarnerMedia unit and Discovery Inc have completed their merger,  reports  Reuters.
The companies set out to merge and become a standalone media business, with AT&T aiming to focus more on its wireless ambitions and Discovery looking to beef up its content library.
Warner Bros Discovery's portfolio includes Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network; streaming services Discovery+ and HBO Max; and franchises like "Batman" and "Harry Potter".
Adds DenofGeek:
Back in 2018, telecom giant AT&T completed its $85 billion acquisition of entertainment conglomerate Time Warner, creating a new entity known as WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia immediately became one of the largest entertainment providers in the world, generating $30 billion in revenue per year and hosting more than 40 million subscribers on streaming service HBO Max.
Now, just three years later, AT&T has apparently decided that WarnerMedia just wasn’t big enough.  The new combines Discovery-WarnerMedias entity will be able to compete with the likes of Disney and Netflix. This new company (71% of which will be owned by AT&T shareholders and 29% of which will be owned by Discovery shareholders) could be valued at as much as $150 billion, which would place the new enterprise just behind Disney in terms of total assets.