On the eve of both
WarnerMedia’s and Discovery's upfront presentations this week, Warner parent AT&T announced a deal with Discovery Inc. to combine their media assets into a new, separately traded company,
which will be led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
The deal effectively takes AT&T out of the operational media business, although it will continue to have seven of the 13 members
of the new, as-yet-unnamed company’s board, including its chairman.
Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will receive $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt and shares
representing 71% of the new company. Discovery shareholders will end up owning 29%.
Discovery's upfront is scheduled for Tuesday morning, while WarnerMedia's takes place Wednesday
morning.
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