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Paramount Completes Warner Bros. Takeover, Creating Skydance Media Empire
Paramount has finished buying Warner Bros.
Discovery.
The new company is called Skydance and includes movie studios, TV channels and streaming services from both businesses.
David Ellison will lead it as chairman and CEO.
Ynon Kreiz will help run the company and combine its businesses.
Warner Bros.
Discovery shareholders are due about $31 in cash for each share.
Skydance says it hopes to save more than $6 billion over three years.
It also plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max eventually.
Some people in the movie business worry the merger could mean fewer jobs and films.
News groups have raised concerns about CNN's independence, and the deal includes a board intended to protect it.
Paramount completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, with the combined company renamed Skydance.
The company brings together Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, CBS News, CNN, HBO and CBS television brands.
David Ellison will be chairman and CEO; former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz will serve as co-CEO.
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will receive about $31 per share in cash, and Skydance shares began trading under the ticker SKYD.
The company says it will target more than $6 billion in cost savings within three years and eventually merge Paramount+ and HBO Max.
- Who
- Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery; David Ellison will lead the combined company.
- What
- Paramount completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and the combined company was renamed Skydance.
- Where
- The company’s shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
- When
- Tuesday; the article does not state a calendar date.
- Why
- The articles describe the transaction as a takeover and merger; they do not specify a reason for pursuing it.
Critics’ concerns
Company and deal safeguards
Jobs and film production
Critics’ concerns
Movie-industry opponents said the combined company could cut jobs and reduce the number of films produced.
Company and deal safeguards
The article reports a company target of more than $6 billion in cost savings within three years; it does not give a specific response to the job or film-production concerns.
CNN editorial independence
Critics’ concerns
News media groups feared CNN's independence could be compromised.
Company and deal safeguards
The deal includes a board intended to protect CNN's editorial independence.
Key facts
- New company name
- Skydance
- Shareholder payment
- Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will receive about $31 per share in cash.
- Stock ticker
- SKYD on the New York Stock Exchange
- Planned cost savings
- More than $6 billion within three years
- Planned streaming change
- Paramount+ and HBO Max are expected to be merged over time.
- New leadership
- David Ellison as chairman and CEO; Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO overseeing day-to-day operations and integration
- Deal financing
- $47 billion in new equity, led by the Ellison family, RedBird Capital and sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi
- Regulatory settlement
- A federal judge in California approved a settlement between Paramount and 12 US states less than a week before the deal closed.
Quotes
David Ellison
Skydance chairman and CEO
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry.”
NDTV
Sources
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