WBD no longer pursuing merger with Paramount

Warner Bros. Discovery "has gone pencils down" on a potential acquisition of Paramount Global, halting talks after "several months of kicking the tires" on merging the media companies, according to sources. Skydance Media, the film and TV studio run by David Ellison, is "still performing due diligence on a potential transaction." Paramount Global has set up a special committee, which has hired its own financial advisor, to "sift through potential bids for the whole company or certain assets." Comcast "isn’t interested" in acquiring Paramount Global assets, but it "has been working with house bankers to explore a potential commercial partnership." That "could include bundling or merging streaming services Peacock and Paramount+," or a different arrangement. Still, it’s "unclear if Paramount Global would have interest in this as it explores sale scenarios" (CNBC.com, 2/27).