Published on : 17/05/2021 – 14:28
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New York (AFP)
A new media and entertainment juggernaut, to stand up to Netflix and other streaming giants: the American telecommunications group AT&T announced on Monday the merger of its subsidiary WarnerMedia (CNN, HBO …) with Discovery, which owns among others the Eurosport channel.
In detail, AT&T will receive about $ 43 billion in cash and debt securities, and its shareholders 71% of the newly created entity. Those of Discovery will own 29% of the new group, according to a joint statement released on Monday.
This operation, the outcome of which is expected in mid-2022, comes three years after the completion of the takeover of Time Warner – the former name of WarnerMedia – by AT&T, the leading American cable operator and second mobile operator, for 85 billion dollars. .
AT&T had then in particular got its hands on the enormous Harry Potter and Batman productions.
The wedding announced on Monday comes at a time when the American audiovisual landscape, and even the world, is increasingly dominated by the big names in streaming such as Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.
Faced with this new economic model, without advertising but with subscription, several groups have already felt the need to strengthen their offer to keep their stature in the ruthless jungle of American entertainment.
AT&T launched its own HBO MAX streaming platform in 2020, and Discovery its own, called Discovery Plus, earlier this year.
“The new company will be able to invest in more original content for its streaming services, improve programming options on its pay TV channels (…) and provide more innovative choices to viewers and consumers. video experiences “, underline the two groups.
At the end of 2020, HBO MAX had 61 million subscribers, while Netflix had 204 million and Disney platforms (Disney +, ESPN +, Hulu) had 146 million.
The expected revenue of the new company is around $ 52 billion by 2023. Cost synergies of up to $ 3 billion per year are also expected.
On the stock market, the title of the two companies rose sharply in transactions preceding the opening of the stock market, AT&T taking 4.5% and Discovery nearly 17%.
© 2021 AFP
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