Paramount Skydance has officially entered a definitive merger agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion, bringing an end to a high-stakes bidding war against Netflix. Announced on February 27, 2026, the all-cash deal values Warner Bros. Discovery at $31 per share. Paramount CEO David Ellison confirmed that the company will fold its streaming services, including Paramount+ and HBO Max, into a single platform aimed at challenging industry leaders with over 200 million combined subscribers.

The massive scale of the acquisition leaves the new entity saddled with approximately $79 billion in net debt. Following the announcement, Fitch Ratings downgraded Paramount Skydance’s credit rating to "BB-plus." The deal is being financed by $47 billion in equity from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, alongside $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo. Gulf sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi are also contributing $24 billion to the transaction.

While Paramount strategy chief Andy Gordon projects $6 billion in cost synergies, entertainment unions and analysts widely anticipate mass layoffs across film, television, and news divisions. The merger unites major networks like CBS and CNN under one corporate roof, sparking intense scrutiny over media competition. While U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr indicated the watchdog would not block the deal, the acquisition remains under active review by the Department of Justice and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.