What Lies In Wait For WarnerMedia & Discovery’s International Operations Following The $43BN Merger?
11.04.2022 - 19:09
/ deadline.com
David Zaslav hasn’t wasted time in making significant changes at WarnerBros Discovery and many on this side of the Atlantic are now wondering what happens in the international ranks, where the combined studios have thousands of staff.
Even before WarnerMedia and Discovery closed their $43BN merger on Friday, the axe had fallen on the former’s U.S. C-suite.
Last week’s top level cull of U.S. staff could save north of $70M, one studio insider estimates to us. That’s just the start of cost-saving efforts designed to squeeze $3BN out of the new operation, according to forecasts Discovery gave to Wall Street. Note that $3BN in savings is a lot higher than Disney promised Wall Street when it inhaled Fox, a merger which led to swathes of staff cuts.
Office space
As with any merger, speculation is rife. The expectation among studio executives we speak to in Europe is that there will be streamlining in local international offices. Reorganization is surely a given.
“They will look to cut costs internationally,” one studio source predicted to us. “Staff will know that cuts are possible and it won’t be a shock if they come, but at the same time it’s very possible that nothing has been conveyed yet.”
Another well-placed UK studio source told us that staff in Warner Bros’ UK motion picture division are bracing for change. “People there have been aware this was coming for months. Headhunters have been speaking to staff there for some time.”
One well-connected source said it was possible Discovery could leave the factual giant’s long-time international base in Chiswick, West London, something that has been rumoured for a while anyway. Warner Bros. moved its Turner staff to a sparkly new office in Old Street on the other side of town in 2019
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