Discovery officially has a name: It’s simply going to be “Skydance,” according to chairman and CEO David Ellison. In the end, Ellison picked the name of his original film production company, Skydance Media, to encompass everything that is getting stuffed into the new conglomerate. The deal forming the new Skydance is set to close Oct. 6, the companies have announced.
The merger will combine two of Hollywood’s biggest movie studios; the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services; and TV businesses including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central, Food Network and more. The new company’s entertainment franchises will span Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, “Game of Thrones” and other HBO hits, the DC Universe, “Yellowstone,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun” and the Nickelodeon kids’ empire. Skydance will be led by chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief who will join the company Oct. 5.
Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling.” Ellison continued, “We chose this name for a few important reasons. First and foremost, as we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic. Both have distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands that have resonated with audiences for generations.
We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one. Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.” “We have big goals for Skydance, and we intend to pursue them with passion, imagination and a willingness to take smart risks,” Ellison wrote. I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re going to build together.” Ellison ultimately prevailed in his yearlong campaign to swing a massive $111 billion deal to merge Paramount and Warner Bros.
Discovery, including outbidding Netflix (which had an agreement to buy Warner Bros.’ streaming and studios businesses) and settling an antitrust lawsuit by 12 states seeking to block the deal. The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal cleared its last hurdle after a judge overseeing the 12-state antitrust lawsuit on Sept. 30 approved the settlement between Paramount and the state attorneys general. Industry wags had playfully dubbed the pending combo as “ParaBros” and “WarnerMount,” but no one expected either one of those to be the official company moniker.
Skydance will have a mountain of debt, projected to be north of $80 billion, after assuming the debt burdens of previous M&A incurred by Paramount and WBD and raising new debt financing. Paramount is issuing about $42.4 billion in bonds and is additionally taking out $8.5 billion and €850 million in new loans to help fund the Warner Bros. deal and repay existing debt. The new company will be controlled by David Ellison and his father, Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison, alongside Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners.
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