Paramount to Raise $7.5 Billion More in Debt to Fund Warner Bros. Deal

Paramount Skydance said Thursday it is launching a syndication to raise $7.5 billion through a proposed senior secured incremental tranche of term “B” loans. The David Ellison-led company it will use the funds toward its $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and to pay down certain other debt.

In total, Paramount said it now intends to raise approximately $44.4 billion of additional secured debt, in addition to the Incremental Term B Facility and previously announced financings (subject to market and other conditions).

“Paramount intends to utilize the net proceeds of these borrowings, together with cash on hand and the net proceeds of the previously announced equity financing, to finance the purchase price for its previously announced acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and the repayment of certain existing debt,” Paramount said.

At the end of 2026, on a pro-forma basis, the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. would have net debt of $77.2 billion, Morgan Stanley analysts estimated in a report Tuesday. With the additional loans Paramount is seeking to secure, that estimate will likely be revised upward.

Paramount’s deal to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery is close to the finish line, after the company reached a settlement with 12 state attorneys general to settle their antitrust lawsuit over the pact. The judge in the case has scheduled a hearing Thursday to go over points of the proposed consent decree; pending the judge’s approval, the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is expected to close in about two weeks.