Paramount completed its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, closing the deal on 6 October 2026 and creating a new combined conglomerate operating under the Skydance name. The transaction was reported by Guardian Business, Bloomberg Markets, and CNBC. The merged entity is led by David Ellison as CEO and chairman alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, formerly of Mattel. The deal concluded a competitive bidding process that had included interest from Netflix and required extended legal proceedings before receiving approval.
The consolidation reduces Hollywood's major studio count from five to four, with the new Skydance entity joining Sony, Disney, and Universal. The combined company brings together Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios, the CBS, HBO, CNN, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, TNT, and TBS television networks, and both the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms, which are slated to eventually merge into a single service.
Paramount Global (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are the two publicly traded entities directly involved in the transaction. PARA shareholders exchanged their holdings into the merged Skydance structure, while WBD was acquired outright, making both stocks directly and materially affected by the closing of this deal.
David Ellison addressed questions about the new company's editorial and political independence on 7 October 2026, acknowledging a relationship with the Trump administration while stating Skydance had not been politicised. The leadership team announced ahead of closing includes Bari Weiss, Mark Thompson, and Casey Bloys in senior roles.
Sources: Guardian Business, Bloomberg Markets, Cnbc TOP