Paramount closes Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, creating Skydance
Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery takeover has closed, ending a bidding fight and creating Skydance under David Ellison.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery takeover closed Tuesday, combining the companies into Skydance under David Ellison’s leadership. The deal places Warner Bros., HBO Max and CNN alongside Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ and CBS, following a contest that began with WBD’s planned breakup and ended with Paramount’s bid for the whole company, according to the Associated Press.
AP reported the takeover at $81 billion. The price is also described as roughly $110 billion to $111 billion when Warner Bros. Discovery’s debt is counted, so the figures refer to different measures of the transaction.
How did Paramount win the Warner Bros. Discovery takeover?
Warner Bros. Discovery first said in June 2025 that it planned to divide itself into a streaming-and-studios business and a global-networks business, CNBC reported. In October, after receiving interest from several parties, WBD opened a strategic review while continuing to prepare the separation.
Paramount had made earlier approaches that WBD rejected. By November 2025, Comcast, Netflix and Paramount had submitted formal bids, CNBC reported. Netflix and Comcast were pursuing Warner’s studio and streaming businesses, while Paramount sought all of WBD, including its linear television networks.
Netflix reached an agreement in December to acquire the studio and streaming assets in a deal valued at nearly $83 billion on an enterprise basis, CNBC reported. That proposal would have left WBD’s TV networks to be spun off as Discovery Global.
Paramount then pursued a hostile counteroffer for the entire company. It ultimately offered $31 per share, and Netflix chose not to match that proposal, AP reported. WBD and Paramount signed a mutual merger agreement in late February 2026; Variety reported that the all-cash agreement was valued at $110 billion.
What reviews and challenges did the deal face?
WBD shareholders approved the sale on April 23, according to Variety. The U.S. Justice Department ended its review in June without requiring conditions or divestitures, and the European Commission approved the transaction in July, Variety reported.
Twelve state attorneys general sued in July, arguing that the combination would reduce competition and consumer choice. The Writers Guild of America brought a separate antitrust case. Both disputes were settled in September, according to an AP report carried by ABC7 New York.
Under the states’ settlement, Paramount committed to raise U.S. film production, provide money for workers displaced by the merger and establish monitoring of news editorial independence, AP reported. NPR reported that Paramount also agreed, for the time being, to run Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios separately and to release at least 30 films annually in each of the first two years, including at least four independent films.
The agreement also calls for a board concerning editorial independence at CBS and CNN, NPR reported. The company’s directors will appoint its members.
Industry opposition remained visible during the takeover battle. Thousands of creative workers signed an April letter warning of fewer jobs and less audience choice, AP reported. Ellison has said the combined company would create opportunities for workers and audiences.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.