Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will merge into a new company under Skydance, and it will bring a competitive sports rights portfolio with a lucrative valuation.
After months of negotiations, failed deals and legal inquiries, Paramount parent company Skydance has completed the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
The $110bn deal will see WBD and Paramount merge under combined company titled Skydance, bringing both WBD and Paramount’s film studios, television shows and streaming platforms together under one company.
The deal was closed on October 6 after receiving all required regulatory approvals under the merger agreement and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
WBD shareholders received an amount in cash equal to $31.00 per share and ceased trading on Nasdaq. Skydance shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The transaction included $47bn of new equity investment in Class B Common Stock, led by the Ellison Family, RedBird Capital, Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), L’IMAD, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and LionTree, which was priced at $12.00 per share. The debt financing for the transaction was led by Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo.
Skydance will merge the streaming services; Paramount+ and HBO Max, under one unified platform, with a new title yet to be determined. The new consolidated platform will look to generate more than $10bn in free cash flow by 2030.
With an annual $70bn in revenue, Skydance will target a $6bn run-rate synergies across the next three years. The conglomerate will also look to reduce net leverage to 3.0x by the end of 2029.
David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Skydance, said: “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. Now that ambition is a reality.
“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.”
A new $55bn sports portfolio
The WBD acquisition also means Skydance will acquire the company’s entire portfolio of live sports rights and its sports channel, TNT Sports.
WBD has a rights agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB) until 2028 for $535m-per-year. The deal includes exclusive Tuesday night games, two Division Series and one League Championship Series each season across TBS and HBO Max.
Alongside broadcasting National Hockey League (NHL) games, TNT Sports, TBS and HBO Max also broadcasts NASCAR as part of a $275m-per-year deal that expires in 2031.
WBD’s sports channels and streaming service also showcases college football, via a sublicence deal with ESPN, Olympic sports and games on Eurosport, as well as college basketball’s March Madness in a joint venture partnership with Paramount.
Paramount is in the midst of a 10-year rights deal with the NFL to broadcast over 100 games per season, as part of a $2.1bn per-year deal that expires in 2033.
While the NFL rights contract is Paramount’s most valuable sporting asset, it has aggressively acquired sporting rights in the US and across the world since being acquired by Skydance in 2025.
Paramount agreed to pay the UFC $7.7bn – $1.1bn per-year – as part of a seven-year deal to become its exclusive broadcast partner. It also acquired rights for the UEFA Champions League in the UK and Ireland to broadcast games from the competition on Paramount+.
The company also has sporting rights to broadcast The PGA Tour and Serie A football from Italy in the US.
The combined sports rights portfolio of both Paramount and WBD’s is an estimated $6.5bn in annual value, while its total multi-year agreements are valued at approximately $55bn.
