Paramount closes historic Warner Bros. merger to form Skydance

Paramount announced on Tuesday that it has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to create a combined company called Skydance.

The deal, which is one of the biggest mergers of all time, brings together two major streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max, along with networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central, and Food Network. Skydance will also gain control of major franchises such as “The Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” the DC Universe, and “Yellowstone.”

The merger puts one of the world’s largest entertainment studios under the control of David Ellison. Just last year, Ellison completed his merger of Skydance Media with Paramount, and is rapidly increasing his influence in Hollywood.

The Ellison family is Skydance’s largest shareholder, backed by the billions of Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father and co-founder of Oracle.

The completion of the deal comes after settlements with a coalition of U.S. states and a Hollywood writers’ union cleared the main legal hurdles facing the merger.

Paramount announced in February that it would acquire Warner Bros. following a bidding battle with Netflix, which had previously reached an agreement to purchase Warner Bros.’ film and television studios and streaming business, excluding its cable networks.

Paramount had sweetened its bid by promising shareholders additional cash if the deal failed to close by a specified deadline and agreeing to cover the breakup fee Warner Bros. would owe Netflix for ending its existing agreement.

“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison said in a statement. “From the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Our focus now turns to the future: building a company that empowers creatives, entertains audiences and rewards shareholders. We couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”

The new combined Skydance corporation will have annual revenue of nearly $70 billion, the company says.

Skydance Class B shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol “SKYD.”

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Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University.

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