JUST IN: Warner Bros. Shareholders Approve $81 Billion Paramount Takeover

(Jae C. Hong/AP photo)

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have approved the $81 billion takeover bid mounted by Paramount Skydance, pushing the high-profile entertainment merger toward being a done deal.

A majority of WBD shareholders OK’d a deal to sell the legendary studio to David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance for $31 a share in a vote on Thursday, according to the Associated Press, which reported that with debt, the agreement is valued at nearly $111 billion.

Back in December, Paramount Skydance announced the hostile takeover bid to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery, days after Netflix had been crowned the highest bidder for the legendary studio. The board initially rejected the takeover.

But as Paramount Skydance sweetened the deal, Netflix dropped out, with the streaming giant’s Co-CEO’s Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters calling the “price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer” left the deal “no longer financially attractive.”

Despite Thursday’s shareholder vote, it is not yet a done deal, as the merger requires regulatory sign-off from such bodies as President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice.

Once finalized, the deal will move all of WBD’s properties — including the Harry Potter franchise and DC superheroes like Batman and Superman — under the Paramount umbrella.

This is a developing story and has been updated.

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