Paramount Closes $111 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Deal, Creating Skydance

Paramount has completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, closing an $81 billion takeover valued at about $111 billion including debt and combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios with HBO, CNN, CBS, and some of the entertainment industry’s largest franchises.

The transaction closed October 6, 2026, after Paramount cleared federal antitrust review and settled lawsuits brought by a coalition of states and the Writers Guild of America. The combined company will operate under the Skydance name and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.

David Ellison will lead Skydance alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, the former chief executive of Mattel. The company now controls Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, the streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, the CBS and CNN news organizations, and a sprawling collection of television, sports and entertainment properties.

The deal also brings franchises including Harry Potter, DC’s Batman and Superman, Game of Thrones, Star TrekMission: ImpossibleTop Gun and The Godfather under the same corporate umbrella.

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders received just over $31 per share in cash when the merger became effective. The company’s shares stopped trading on Nasdaq Tuesday, while the newly combined Skydance began trading under its new name.

The closing caps a takeover battle that stretched through much of 2026 and drew antitrust challenges, political scrutiny and opposition from Hollywood labor groups.

Paramount reached its merger agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery in February after competing for control of the company. The transaction came less than two years after Skydance completed its earlier acquisition of Paramount.

Legal challenges became one of the final obstacles to closing.

In July, attorneys general from 12 states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, sued to block the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, arguing that combining the companies would reduce competition across film, television and streaming.

The states dropped their challenge in September after reaching a court-enforceable settlement with Paramount. The agreement requires the combined company to increase domestic production spending, maintain the Paramount and Warner Bros. studio lots, support workforce programs and continue negotiating certain television distribution arrangements separately.

Skydance must spend at least $1.5 billion more on U.S. production over five years compared with the companies’ combined 2025 levels. It must also contribute $5 million annually to an independent film fund and invest $9.5 million a year in workforce training, film programs and community arts organizations during the five-year commitment period.

The settlement also imposes protections involving CNN and CBS News, two news organizations that are now owned by the same company.

Within 180 days of the merger closing, Skydance must establish a five-member News Editorial Independence Board made up of established journalists. The board will create editorial principles and address certain disputes involving reporting bias, fairness, and alleged violations of those standards.

The arrangement followed months of scrutiny over how the merger could affect CNN and CBS News. Ellison has said CNN will retain editorial independence, while critics have questioned how much authority the new oversight board will have over management decisions.

The deal’s financing also drew attention because investors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates provided substantial capital for the transaction. Federal regulators approved the ownership structure before closing.

Hollywood labor groups separately raised concerns about job losses, reduced competition and the effect of consolidating two major film and television producers. Thousands of actors, writers, directors and other entertainment workers publicly opposed the merger earlier this year.

Skydance now says it plans to release at least 30 theatrical films and produce more than 180 television shows and series annually. The company is also targeting at least $6 billion in annualized savings within three years.

Those savings will be closely watched across Hollywood as the new company integrates two large studio operations. The combined business enters the merger carrying roughly $80 billion in debt while competing against Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Apple and YouTube for audiences increasingly moving away from traditional cable television.

The October 6 closing ends the acquisition process but begins a new period of court-enforceable commitments. Skydance will now have to comply with the production, labor and news-independence conditions agreed to in settling the states’ antitrust challenge while integrating Warner Bros. Discovery into one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.