Paramount Skydance has officially closed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, ending a more than year-long battle that included a Netflix bidding war and lawsuits from a dozen US states. The combined company is renamed Skydance and trades under the ticker "SKYD".
Deal closes after a hostile bidding war
Paramount Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros Discovery closed Tuesday, merging two of the biggest studios in Los Angeles. The combined company is renamed Skydance Corporation on the stock market and trades under the ticker symbol "SKYD." Chief executive David Ellison spent more than a year navigating competing bids and an antitrust lawsuit to win control of WBD's studio, TV networks and HBO Max streaming business.
Netflix initially held a deal to buy part of Warner Bros Discovery, but Paramount Skydance launched a bidding war that led the streaming giant to walk away. The merger brings together HBO, CBS, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Comedy Central, DC Studios and Food Network, and hands Paramount franchises including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings and Mission: Impossible.
Ellison, chairman and chief executive of Skydance, called the deal's completion historic for the film industry. According to the BBC: "Now that ambition is a reality."
States settled antitrust suit, CNN faces uncertainty
Lawyers in about a dozen US states, led by California, had sued to block the deal, arguing it would stifle competition, raise consumer prices and cause substantial harm to movie theaters and cable distributors. US states reached a settlement with Paramount and Ellison last month that cleared the way for the merger to proceed.
As part of that deal, Paramount agreed to establish a news editorial independence board to oversee reporting at CNN and CBS, an area of concern since Skydance Media's takeover of CBS in 2025. The merger also leaves CNN, one of the biggest US news outlets, in uncertain territory.
Film quotas and AI guardrails attached to approval
The settlement requires Paramount to release at least 30 films each year; falling short would force the company to sell its 49% stake in Miramax. Paramount must also ensure 20% of all film production happens in the US for the first two years, rising above 30% over the following three years. The agreement also includes guardrails against AI-generated films meant to prevent the studio from meeting its quota with automated content.
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