Paramount completes $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming Skydance

Paramount completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, according to DW and The Verge. NPR and AP, publishing earlier that day, reported that the deal was expected to close that day. The combined company is called Skydance.

Before the deal, Paramount was already owned by David Ellison's Skydance. The takeover is valued at about $81 billion, or roughly $110–111 billion including Warner Bros. Discovery's debt.

The deal brings Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures under one company. The company also includes CBS News, CNN and HBO. Ellison leads it alongside Ynon Kreiz, the former head of Mattel. According to DW, Ellison is chairman and CEO, and Kreiz is co-CEO in charge of day-to-day operations.

Paramount competed with Netflix in a months-long bidding battle for Warner Bros. Discovery. According to The Verge, Paramount secured an agreement to acquire the company in February. DW describes the acquisition as hostile.

Twelve US states sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Paramount settled with them before closing. The settlement includes a commitment to release 30 films a year, at least in the initial years. According to DW, a federal judge in California approved the settlement less than a week before the deal closed. According to The Verge, Skydance must also spend at least $300 million more on US production than the two companies spent combined last year.

According to NPR, the deal cleared legal and regulatory challenges in the US and Europe and faced months of public protests. According to DW, Skydance shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday under the ticker SKYD. DW also reports that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will receive about $31 per share. The reports do not say whether this is paid in cash, stock or a mix.

What is disputed

Reports differ slightly on the value including debt: almost $111 billion (DW), $111 billion (NPR) and $110 billion (The Verge). They also differ on the film commitment. NPR says Ellison agreed to produce 30 films a year. The Verge says Skydance must release a minimum number of theatrical films over five years, starting with 30 in years one and two.

What each side says

DW quoted Ellison as saying: "Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry." In the announcement, according to The Verge, he 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."

According to DW, Ellison plans to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max, and Skydance is targeting about $6 billion in cost savings within three years. According to NPR's Mandalit del Barco, Ellison promised an independent oversight board to protect CNN from political interference.

Critics, according to del Barco, are concerned about media concentration, CNN's future and the credibility of the film commitment. They predict higher streaming prices and fewer choices. DW reports that Ellison's family has ties to US President Donald Trump; NPR describes Ellison as a Trump ally. According to The Verge, lawmakers and Hollywood talent criticised the deal over media consolidation. The reports do not include a direct statement from Warner Bros. Discovery or the 12 states.

Analysis

The deal places two century-old studios and two major news brands under one owner, which is likely to keep questions about media concentration in public debate. Several outcomes remain open. The settlement's film-output and production-spending commitments could become a benchmark for how the company is judged, but the reports do not describe how compliance would be monitored. The proposed CNN oversight board may ease or deepen concerns about editorial independence, depending on its structure, which has not been detailed. Planned cost savings and a merged streaming service could reshape jobs, prices and choices for viewers, though the reports do not set out how or when.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.