There are rumors that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global are talking about merging

CEOs of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global Bob Bakish met on Wednesday to talk about a possible merger between their two businesses, according to a source cited by news agency Reuters.

Axios originally reported the rumors of a potential merger, citing a number of sources. Additionally, according to Axios, Zaslav discussed a deal with Shari Redstone, the owner of Paramount’s parent business. The report also said that Zaslav and Bakish had a lengthy meeting that lasted for many hours.

Warner Bros. may be interested in purchasing Paramount Global or its parent firm, National Amusements Inc. (NAI), but it’s unclear at this point, according to Axios. Warner Bros. and Paramount, the two media companies, did not immediately react when Reuters contacted them for comment.

For those who don’t know, the media business run by Shari Redstone controls 77% of the Class A voting shares of Paramount.

However, the Axios article notes that talks over a merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount are still preliminary and may or may not lead to an agreement.

WarnerMedia, a division of AT&T, and Discovery merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery in April of last year. In addition to properties like “Batman” and “Harry Potter,” the new portfolio included streaming services Discovery+ and HBO Max, as well as Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, HBO, and Cartoon Network.

A report from Bloomberg News earlier on Wednesday said that Paramount was also in negotiations to sell its Black Entertainment Television network to an investment group overseen by management. In addition, a number of publications have indicated a takeover interest in Paramount, which has a $10.5 billion market valuation and around $15.6 billion in long-term debt.

Regarding the market, on Wednesday, Warner Bros.’s shares finished around 6% down. Conversely, shares of Paramount decreased by around 2%. It is still unclear whether this media merger would proceed or be scrapped.