Paramount Skydance has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing together two major Hollywood studios and creating a new company rebranded as Skydance.
The deal unites the studio behind The Godfather with the home of the Harry Potter films, while also combining CBS News and CNN, cable networks including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TBS and TNT, and the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services.
David Ellison, who led the merger, will serve as chief executive of Skydance alongside co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz, the former head of toy company Mattel.
In an email to employees, the two executives said the transaction would create a “stronger competitor, one with the scale to take on the biggest players in our industry”.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Mr Ellison said in a separate statement.
Warner Bros. shareholders will receive the cash equivalent of about $31 per share, according to the company.
The acquisition was completed after Paramount settled a lawsuit brought in July by a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, as well as a separate case filed by the Writers Guild of America. Both lawsuits sought to block the transaction on antitrust grounds.
Conditions attached to the Skydance merger
Under the settlement, Paramount has pledged to produce 30 films in each of the first two years following the merger. It is also prohibited from selling or closing the Paramount or Warner Bros. studio lots in Los Angeles for at least five years.
Paramount has agreed to establish an editorial board intended to help CNN and CBS maintain editorial independence, according to the office of California attorney general Rob Bonta. The Writers Guild of America agreed to settle its lawsuit after the agreement with the states was reached.
Mr Ellison has said Skydance is targeting $6 billion in cost savings, a plan that has raised concerns in the media industry about potential job losses.
“Integrating two companies will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce,” Mr Ellison and Mr Kreiz said in their message to employees.
