Warner Bros. Discovery's Zaslav: 'We are not for sale' - report

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"We are not for sale, absolutely not for sale," Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) chief David Zaslav said, throwing cold water on any rumors of potential mergers, Deadline reports.

Zaslav made the remarks on a companywide virtual townhall meeting, according to the report - and they come as speculation in the industry swirls about whether Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is planning a major acquisition to shake up the media market.

Zaslav was joined by HBO Max head Casey Bloys, WB Television Chair Channing Dungey, and Motion Picture Group leads Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy, Deadline noted - and he reportedly doubled down on confidence expressed during a lengthy strategy discussion during last month's earnings conference call.

The stock has been buffeted as WBD launched a fairly aggressive plan to start recouping at least $3B in cost synergies, including layoffs and shuttered units. WBD stock is down 54% over the past six months.

It's up 3.8% Wednesday, heading for its first gain in six trading sessions as the broader market rallies.

“The strongest hand in the industry,” Zaslav said, according to Deadline. “We have everything we need to be successful to be the biggest entertainment media company in the world.” Generally, he urged patience with the plan as the industry goes through rough times.

The company looks to be moving forward with layoffs that could hit up to 30% of its ad sales force.