Paramount completes $110bn Warner Bros merger to become Skydance

Paramount Skydance completed its blockbuster $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday, creating a Hollywood powerhouse under the Skydance name and handing CEO David Ellison control of one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, Reuters reported.

The deal unites the studios behind Mission: Impossible, Harry Potter and DC Studios with television and streaming networks including CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max. Shares of the combined company moved from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange to trade under the ticker SKYD.

Settlements with a coalition of US states and a Hollywood writers’ union removed the main legal barriers to the merger, Reuters reported. According to the Times of India, a US judge entered an order allowing the $110bn acquisition to close after a September 21 settlement with a California-led group of 12 states that had sued to block it.

Ellison named former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO to run day-to-day operations and lead the integration, while he oversees creative direction and overall strategy. In an X post, Ellison said: “What once was the peak, is now just the beginning. Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture. By combining them, we aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine.”

The combined company is targeting $6bn in planned cost savings and is expected to carry about $80bn in debt, Reuters reported, with its franchises spanning Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Top Gun and the DC Universe.