Paramount wraps up mega Warner Bros merger to create Hollywood powerhouse Skydance
SKYD•Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, forming an entertainment company called Skydance. The combined company is expected to carry about $80 billion in debt and faces a $6 billion planned cost-savings target.
1. Merger completed
Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday, creating an entertainment company called Skydance under CEO David Ellison. The combined business brings together studios behind “Mission: Impossible,” “Harry Potter” and DC Studios, as well as CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max.
2. Integration challenges
Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz face a target of $6 billion in planned cost savings, a large part of which Paramount said would come from combining streaming technologies and cloud providers. The scale of the cuts is expected to affect jobs across Hollywood. The combined company is expected to carry about $80 billion in debt.
3. Leadership and listing
CNN chief Mark Thompson and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss will remain in their leadership roles. Shares of the combined company moved from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the ticker SKYD.
