Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (“Warner Bros.” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WBD) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Warner Bros. securities between May 17, 2021 and April 8, 2022, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors have until November 22, 2022 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
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The complaint alleges the Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omitted material facts in the Registration Statement and Prospectus for Warner Bros. common stock. The complaint's allegations related to the merger between Discovery and the WarnerMedia business of AT&T (the "Merger"). The Merger was announced on May 17, 2021 and closed on April 8, 2022. Pursuant to the Merger, Discovery combined its business with WarnerMedia to form Warner Bros.
At the time of filing the Registration Statement and Prospectus, Defendants either knew or had access to adverse information concerning operations of the WarnerMedia business. Among other things, as subsequently disclosed by Defendants after the Merger, (i) WarnerMedia's HBO Max streaming business had a high churn rate that made the business not "viable" unless the churn rate was reversed, (ii) AT&T was overinvesting in WarnerMedia entertainment content for streaming, without sufficient concern for return on investments, (iii) WarnerMedia had a business model to grow the number of subscribers to its streaming service without regard to cost or profitability, (iv) WarnerMedia was improvidently concentrating its investments in streaming and ignoring its other business lines, and (v) WarnerMedia had overstated the number of subscribers to HBO Max by as many as 10 million subscribers, by including as subscribers AT&T customers who had received bundled access to HBO Max, but had not signed onto the service. That adverse information was not disclosed to Discovery shareholders in the Registration Statement or Prospectus or otherwise prior to the effective date of the Merger.
As a result, the Registration Statement and Prospectus and certain of the Defendants' other public statements, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state material facts required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in violation of Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
From April 11, 2022, the first trading day after completion of the Merger, to the date prior to filing of this complaint (September 23, 2022), Warner Bros. market price fell by 52.4%, from $24.78 to $11.79 per share, as the market became aware of the foregoing misrepresented and omitted facts.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Warner Bros. shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
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Contacts
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com