From Time Inc to Discovery: Warner Bros breakup puts spotlight on checkered M&A history
FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/ File Photo
(Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery, home to HBO and CNN, said on Monday it would split into two companies, the latest twist in its decades-long history of high-stakes mergers and breakups.
Date Event
1922 Time Inc was founded by Henry Luce and Briton
Hadden to house Time magazine, a weekly news
publication that made world affairs
accessible to the average reader. The first
issue of Time magazine was published in March
1923.
1923 Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry,
Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio
in Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with
the introduction of synchronized sound in
films.
1969 Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that
later transitioned into media, buys Warner
Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its
non-media businesses.
1972 HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing
from Time. It was the first U.S.
subscription-based cable network, offering
uncut, commercial-free movies and live
sports, pioneering premium cable television.
1990 Time Inc merges with Warner Communications in
a $14 billion deal, hailed as a "marriage of
content and distribution," creating Time
Warner, then the largest media company in the
world.
1996 Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting,
gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast
classic film library.
2000 Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL Time
Warner, the largest merger in history at the
time, aiming to merge traditional and digital
media.
2002 AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as
AOL's value collapses with the launch of an
SEC investigation, prompted by allegations of
accounting irregularities and inflated
revenue reports at AOL.
2003 CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner.
2004 Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private
equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for
$2.6 billion.
2009 Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner
Cable, which had already been partially
separated in 2007, ending its role in cable
distribution.
2009 Time Warner spins off AOL.
2013 Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine
division, which includes Time, People,
Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its
formal exit from publishing.
2016 AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warnerfor
$85 billion.
2018 AT&T completes its acquisitionof Time Warner
after regulator's approval, renaming it
WarnerMedia.
2021 AT&T announced it would spin off WarnerMedia
and merge it with Discovery Inc to create a
new standalone media company.
2022 WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their
merger in a $43 billion deal.
2025 Warner Bros Discovery announces it would
separate into two companies — one focusing on
streaming and studios businesses, while the
second will house its cable TV assets.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba and Meghana Khare in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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From Time Inc to Discovery: Warner Bros breakup puts spotlight on checkered M&A history
FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/ File Photo (Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery, home to HBO and CNN, said on Monday it would split into two companies, the latest twist in its decades-long history of high-stakes mergers and breakups. Date Event 1922 Time Inc was founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden to house Time magazine, a weekly news publication that made world affairs accessible to the average reader. The first issue of Time magazine was published in March 1923. 1923 Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio in Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with the introduction of synchronized sound in films. 1969 Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that later transitioned into media, buys Warner Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its non-media businesses. 1972 HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing from Time. It was the first U.S. subscription-based cable network, offering uncut, commercial-free movies and live sports, pioneering premium cable television. 1990 Time Inc merges with Warner Communications in a $14 billion deal, hailed as a "marriage of content and distribution," creating Time Warner, then the largest media company in the world. 1996 Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting, gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast classic film library. 2000 Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL Time Warner, the largest merger in history at the time, aiming to merge traditional and digital media. 2002 AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as AOL's value collapses with the launch of an SEC investigation, prompted by allegations of accounting irregularities and inflated revenue reports at AOL. 2003 CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner. 2004 Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for $2.6 billion. 2009 Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner Cable, which had already been partially separated in 2007, ending its role in cable distribution. 2009 Time Warner spins off AOL. 2013 Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine division, which includes Time, People, Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its formal exit from publishing. 2016 AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warnerfor $85 billion. 2018 AT&T completes its acquisitionof Time Warner after regulator's approval, renaming it WarnerMedia. 2021 AT&T announced it would spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery Inc to create a new standalone media company. 2022 WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their merger in a $43 billion deal. 2025 Warner Bros Discovery announces it would separate into two companies — one focusing on streaming and studios businesses, while the second will house its cable TV assets. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba and Meghana Khare in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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