Controversial $110 billion mega-merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. finally closes
Engadget · C · trust 50/100
New media empire will be known as Skydance, with CEO David Ellision calling it a ‘historic day.'
K I Photography/Shutterstock Add Engadget on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover After nearly a year of negotiations , opposition and regulatory hurdles , the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger has finally reached its conclusion, with the $110-billion deal finally closing today.
The company now known as Skydance assumes full control of two of the largest film studios in the world, as well as networks like CBS, CNN, MTV and Comedy Central. The streaming services HBO Max and Paramount Plus also now fall under the same roof. In a press release , Skydance said that between Paramount and WBD it has committed to putting out 30 theatrical films per year, as well as more than 180 TV shows and series.
The scale of this new media empire is enormous. The combined Skydance portfolio includes DC, Harry Potter and the Game of Thrones IP, as well as the Mission: Impossible franchise, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Looney Tunes and SpongeBob SquarePants. TNT, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon all also now belong to the same company following completion of the merger.
Skydance will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD today, as shares in WBD cease trading on NASDAQ. The company's total annual revenue is now nearly $70 billion, though as Variety reports, the mega-merger will immediately be saddled with $80 billion in debt.
"Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry," said Skydance CEO David Ellison in a statement. "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."
Last week Ellison announced that his new company would adopt the name Skydance, the same name he used for the first production company he formed in 2006. The Warner Bros. acquisition comes after Skydance closed its $8 billion deal to buy Paramount last summer, and successfully fought off competition from Netflix.
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