US telco AT&T has spun off its WarnerMedia business and merged it with Discovery in a new deal worth around $US43 billion.
The merger will see the coming together of Warner’s film division, HBO Max and the Discovery+ streaming service.
Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will receive the $US43 billion in cash, debt and debt retention and will own 71 per cent of the new company.
The combination of these media assets will put the new company in a better position to compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+.
“This agreement unites two entertainment leaders with complementary content strengths and positions the new company to be one of the leading global direct-to-consumer streaming platforms,” John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, said in a statement.
The new company will also be investing more into original content for its streaming services, according to the release.
This will include creating new opportunities for “under-represented storytellers and independent creators”.
AT&T purchased WarnerMedia as part of its $109 billion Time Warner acquisition in 2018.
Neither discovery+ or HBO Max are currently available in the Australian market, however, a large portion of the content from both services is available on Foxtel.
