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Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026. The combined company is named Skydance, bringing together the two companies’ studios, streaming services, news outlets, cable networks, sports operations, and entertainment libraries. The widely cited $110 billion figure is the deal’s announced enterprise value—not the cash paid to WBD shareholders.
Did Paramount buy Warner Bros. Discovery?
Yes. Paramount Skydance Corporation announced on October 6, 2026, that it had completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), following regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The combined company is named Skydance. WBD shares ceased trading, and the closing announcement said the company’s Class B shares would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.
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Why is the deal described as worth $110 billion?
The $110 billion figure is the enterprise value Paramount cited when it announced the agreement on February 27, 2026. Enterprise value is a measure of a company’s overall transaction value; it is not the amount distributed to shareholders as cash. At closing, WBD shareholders received $31.01666668 per share in cash, according to Skydance’s October 6 announcement.
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What businesses and properties are now under Skydance?
The combined portfolio spans film and television production, subscription streaming, broadcast and cable news, sports, and extensive content libraries. Skydance’s closing announcement listed the following businesses and franchises:
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| Area | Examples named by Skydance |
|---|---|
| Studios | Paramount and Warner Bros. |
| Streaming | Paramount+ and HBO Max |
| Broadcast and news | CBS, HBO, CBS News, and CNN |
| Cable and sports | The companies’ cable networks, CBS Sports, and TNT Sports |
| Libraries and franchises | Top Gun, Harry Potter, The White Lotus, and SpongeBob SquarePants |
What does the merger mean for streaming?
Skydance says it plans to unify its direct-to-consumer streaming products into one service “over time.” That signals an intended combination of services, but the October 6 closing announcement did not give a launch date, final service name, price, or product details. It therefore does not establish when subscribers might see a single app, what would happen to existing plans, or how any eventual service would be packaged.
Skydance reported more than 200 million streaming subscribers across its platforms. That is a company-reported combined figure, not a disclosed count of customers for a future unified service. The announcement also reported pro forma content spending above $30 billion for the last twelve-month period; it did not present that figure as an audited post-close result.
What has Skydance promised or set as a target?
The closing release combines operating commitments with financial goals. These are not results already achieved. Skydance cautioned that actual results may differ and identified integration, debt, synergies, and financial goals as areas of risk.
| Measure | What Skydance said | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Theatrical releases | At least 30 films annually, each with a minimum 45-day theatrical window | Company commitment |
| Television library | More than 180 shows | Company description of its library |
| Revenue | Nearly $70 billion | Company-reported figure in the October 6, 2026 closing release |
| Run-rate synergies | At least $6 billion within three years | Management target |
| Net leverage | 3.0x by the end of 2029 | Management target |
| Free cash flow | More than $10 billion by 2030 | Management target |
The revenue figure and the financial targets come from Skydance’s October 6, 2026 announcement. They should be read as company-reported figures and forward-looking goals, not independent confirmation of future performance. The company’s scale, planned theatrical output, and cost-saving target may matter to investors and entertainment workers, but the announcement alone does not establish how the merger will affect film choices, jobs, prices, or consumer experience.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did regulators and the states’ lawsuit affect the closing?
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division said on June 12, 2026, that it had completed an eight-month investigation. Its stated conclusion was that the proposed deal was not likely to harm competition or American consumers in streaming video on demand, linear television, or theatrical film development, production, and distribution. That is the DOJ’s assessment, not a guarantee about the merger’s eventual effects.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority’s case record says it cleared the anticipated acquisition on August 6, 2026, and closed its inquiry on August 17.
Twelve state attorneys general sued to block the transaction. On July 24, California Attorney General Rob Bonta described an interim agreement to delay the merger until five days after a decision on the merits or June 1, 2027, whichever came first. That was the posture at that point, not the final outcome. The Associated Press later reported that the states settled in September and that a judge approved the settlement. AP reported commitments that included increased U.S. film production over five years, funding support for workers displaced by the merger, and editorial monitoring of CNN and CBS. The companies subsequently closed the deal on October 6.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Bonta characterized the states’ position this way: “Our argument against this illegal merger is straightforward: When too few corporations have too much power in markets central to American life, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse.” That was an allegation advanced by a state challenger, not a court finding that the merger produced those effects. In the closing announcement, Skydance Chairman and CEO David Ellison called the completion “a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry.”
What is known—and still undecided—after closing?
The transaction’s ownership change and combined portfolio are established, but several consequential questions remain open in the company’s public closing announcement. Streaming unification is planned but undated, and the announcement did not specify the resulting service’s price or product design. Skydance has also set production and financial objectives whose delivery will depend on execution; the release’s targets are not evidence that those outcomes have occurred.
For viewers, the immediate significance is that familiar studios, channels, sports assets, streaming brands, and franchises now sit within one company. Whether that ownership leads to a different subscription experience, content slate, or market outcome cannot be determined from the closing announcement alone.
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