Paramount and Warner Bros. become one company called Skydance on Tuesday

Paramount Skydance expects to complete its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday in New York. Warner shareholders get US$31 a share in cash, in a deal worth about US$111 billion including debt.

The last obstacle was 12 states, and a federal judge cleared it on Wednesday. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved a settlement with their attorneys general, who had sued over the risk of fewer films and higher prices.

Most of the settlement is about cinemas. The combined company must release at least 30 films a year for two years, then 32 a year for three more. Each one plays in cinemas for at least 45 days and stays off subscription streaming for 90.

Chart: Warner Bros. Discovery shares ended 2022 at US$9.48. Paramount Skydance pays US$31 in cash. Warner Bros. Discovery's closing share price at each year end and on 2 October, then the cash per share paid at completion, expected Tuesday. In US$. — This story’s chart of the day.

David Ellison stays chairman and chief executive, and announced the new name, Skydance, on X. Ynon Kreiz, who left Mattel last week, becomes co-chief executive.

At Mattel, Kreiz oversaw Barbie, still Warner Bros. Pictures' highest-grossing film. HBO Max and Paramount+ have a little over 200 million subscribers between them.

The test ahead

the streaming plan. The cinema promises lock in five years of film spending, so the money has to come from those subscribers paying more.

This story ran in Rescued By Friday Monday 5 October’s edition, with the market snapshot, the other two stories, the numbers and the week ahead. Read the whole edition →

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