The merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery closed on Tuesday in a transaction the Los Angeles Times valued at 111 billion dollars. Shares of the combined company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD.
The merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported, ending a year-long bid by David Ellison to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his company's portfolio. The Times described the transaction as worth 111 billion dollars.
Ellison, 43, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that the day was historic for Skydance and the industry and that the aim was to bring the two studios together as a stronger competitor. The combined company is using the Skydance name. Shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, after the predecessor traded as PSKY on the Nasdaq.
Warner Bros. Discovery investors were bought out at 31.17 dollars a share, the Times reported. The new company emerged with more than 80 billion dollars of debt. Shares opened around 9.70 dollars, about half of Paramount's 52-week high.
A separate account said Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders received about 31.02 dollars a share in cash and that the company is targeting at least 6 billion dollars in annual cost savings within three years. Those figures are not in the Times dispatch used here. No regulatory reversal was reported on Wednesday.
People Sentiments Mixed
- David Ellison said the close was a historic day and that the ambition to combine the studios was now a reality.