AT&T announces merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery

AT&T said Monday the U.S. telecommunication giant has reached a deal to combine its content unit, WarnerMedia, with Discovery, an agreement that would help the major Hollywood studios compete with such rivals as  Netflix and Disney.

AT&T says it will receive an $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt, according to CNBC. 

The deal, if approved by regulators, effectively reverses AT&T’s years-long plan to combine content and distribution in a vertically integrated company.

The deal would create a new business, separate from AT&T, that could be valued at as much as $150 billion, including debt, according to The Financial Times.