Dallas-based telecommunications giant AT&T, WarnerMedia’s parent company, will spin off its entertainment assets in the merger, creating a new publicly traded company.
The deal is expected to close in 2022, leaving AT&T shareholders with 71% of the new company and Discovery shareholders with 29%, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"During my many conversations with John [Stankey], we always come back to the same simple and powerful strategic principle: these assets are better and more valuable together,” Zaslav said in a statement.
AT&T and Discovery predicted that the new company’s revenue will be around $52 billion in 2023.
WarnerMedia’s most popular streaming service, HBO Max, has attracted 64 million subscribers, a far cry from the 103 million at Disney Plus has and the 206 million at Netflix. But WarnerMedia's streaming revenue was up 35% year-over-year in the recent quarter.
Discovery also jumped into streaming with the launch of Discovery+ in January, which has garnered 15 million subscribers so far.