Massive Media Merger Completed
Paramount Skydance Completes $110 Billion Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery
Anonymous
Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a media company called Skydance after a yearlong contest that included a competing Netflix bid. The merger brings together Paramount+ and HBO Max, major film franchises and studios, and networks including CBS, CNN, TNT, Nickelodeon and MTV. The deal faced lawsuits from 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America; the states settled, requiring five years of behavioral remedies, including separate negotiations for certain pay-TV deals and a minimum number of theatrical releases. David Ellison will lead the company with co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, while Mark Thompson remains CNN’s chairman and editor-in-chief and Bari Weiss remains CBS News’ editor-in-chief; Thompson and Weiss report directly to the co-CEOs. Thompson said he was assured CNN’s editorial independence would be supported, but details of how the news organizations will operate under shared ownership remain unsettled.
Key Points
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A last-minute attempt to stop the merger was rejected by Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, allowing the transaction to close.
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Warner Bros. Discovery’s board initially rebuffed Paramount’s unsolicited offer, and it took more than a dozen approaches before the board warmed to the deal. It had also accepted Netflix’s proposal for only the streaming and studio businesses before Paramount made a higher offer for all of WBD.
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Skydance said its shares would begin trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
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The companies announced additional leadership changes: HBO chief Casey Bloys will become Skydance’s chief content officer, while CBS Sports chief David Berson will lead the combined sports operations; Warner Bros. Discovery sports chief Luis Silberwasser is leaving.
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