US completes $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery — Channel NewsAsia

In the United States, in Los Angeles, Paramount Skydance on October 6 completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. As a result of the deal, a major entertainment company called Skydance was created, and its CEO David Ellison gained control of one of the world’s largest companies in the entertainment industry.

As Channel NewsAsia reports, the deal brought together the studios behind the Mission: Impossible, Harry Potter and DC Studios franchises with the CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max television and streaming networks. On Tuesday, shares of the combined company were moved from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange, where they trade under the ticker SKYD.

Legal obstacles removed

The main legal barriers to completing the merger were removed through settlements of disputes with a coalition of U.S. states and Hollywood’s writers’ union. The deal became one of the largest in the history of the media industry amid declining cable television audiences, high costs of competing for streaming viewers, and union pressure over jobs and the rights of creative workers.

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Last week, Ellison explained that the Skydance name was chosen to preserve the separate identities of the Paramount and Warner Bros studios rather than combining them under a new brand. Skydance was founded in 2010; the company gained a reputation as a financial partner and producer of Paramount’s blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.

Integration and cost cuts

Ellison appointed former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO of Skydance. Kreiz will be responsible for day-to-day operations and the integration of the companies, while Ellison will focus on creative direction and overall strategy.

Paramount announced a plan to save $6 billion, including by combining the two companies’ streaming technologies and cloud providers. At the same time, the scale of the cuts is expected to affect jobs in Hollywood. The combined company is expected to have about $80 billion in debt. CNN chief Mark Thompson and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss will continue in their positions at Skydance.