Paramount Skydance Closes $110 Billion Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance officially closed its $110 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, creating one of the largest entertainment companies in the world.

The combined entity, rebranded as Skydance, will house three major movie studios (Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Skydance), two global streaming services (Paramount+ and HBO Max), and two major news networks (CNN and CBS). The merger also brings together Paramount's Viacom channels, including MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central, with Warner Bros. Discovery's cable networks such as TBS, TNT, Food Network, and Discovery.

The combined company plans to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service. David Ellison, who orchestrated the merger as CEO of Paramount Skydance, will lead the new company alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. The acquisition, including billions of dollars in debt, amounts to nearly $111 billion. The deal followed a tumultuous, roughly yearlong process that involved a heated bidding contest with Netflix and legal challenges.

Settlements with a coalition of 12 US states and a Hollywood writers union removed the main legal barriers to the merger. Paramount agreed to spend an additional $1.5 billion on US film production over five years, release at least 30 films in theaters annually, and establish new editorial oversight mechanisms for CNN and CBS. Ellison stated the company is targeting $6 billion in cost savings, and an email to employees from Ellison and Kreiz indicated that integrating the two companies will involve difficult decisions affecting the workforce.