J.P. Morgan and Evercore were among the financial advisers to Warner Bros. Discovery as Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion acquisition of the media group, creating a combined company named Skydance.
The transaction closed on October 6 and values Warner Bros. Discovery at $81 billion in equity value and $110 billion in enterprise value. Paramount agreed to acquire 100% of WBD for $31.00 per share in cash plus a daily ticking fee applying after September 30. The combined company has transferred its Class B listing to the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.
Based on the merger agreement, the ticking fee increased the consideration by $0.00277778 per share for each calendar day after September 30 up to and including the closing date. With the transaction closing on October 6, that takes the cash entitlement for eligible WBD shares to $31.01666668. Paramount
The advisory roster gives the deal substantial significance for the investment-banking market. Allen & Company, J.P. Morgan and Evercore acted as financial advisers to Warner Bros. Discovery. Centerview Partners and RedBird Advisors served as lead financial advisers to Paramount, with Bank of America Securities, Citi, M. Klein & Company and LionTree Advisors also advising the buyer. Barclays Capital advised the special committee of Paramount’s board. SEC
The financing structure was similarly large. When the definitive agreement was announced in February, Paramount said the transaction would be funded by $47 billion of equity fully backed by the Ellison Family and RedBird Capital Partners. The agreement was also backed by $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo, including $15 billion to support WBD’s existing bridge facility and $39 billion of incremental new debt.
Paramount said at the time that new Class B shares would be issued at $16.02 per share. It valued WBD at 7.5 times fully synergised 2026 EBITDA and expected the combined group to have net debt-to-EBITDA of 4.3 times on a synergised basis at closing, with a stated path towards investment-grade credit metrics within three years.
The company has also targeted more than $6 billion of synergies from technology integration, procurement savings, real-estate optimisation and wider operating efficiencies. Those targets make balance-sheet execution central to the next phase of the transaction, because the combined group must deliver integration savings while continuing to fund film, television and streaming investment.
Leadership has also been reorganised around the integration. David Ellison remains chairman and chief executive, while former Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz has been appointed co-chief executive. Paramount said Ellison will focus on long-term strategy, creative direction, technology and capital allocation, while Kreiz will oversee day-to-day management and integration of the combined businesses.
For finance teams following large-scale M&A, the transaction illustrates how equity backing, committed debt, multiple advisory mandates and post-deal leverage targets can converge in a single acquisition. The immediate challenge for Skydance is now less about completing the transaction and more about converting its projected synergies into cash flow, reducing leverage and moving towards the investment-grade credit profile Paramount set out when the deal was agreed.
