David Ellison names combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery as Skydance

The newly combined media giant of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will officially be named Skydance, retiring one of the newest names in corporate entertainment while keeping Hollywood's most historic studio brands intact.

David Ellison, the incoming chief executive who spearheaded the merger, announced the corporate name on Friday. While the holding company will be called Skydance Corporation, both Paramount and Warner Bros. will remain as individual sub-brands.

"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," Ellison wrote in a post on X, his first on a newly created account.

A massive debt load and Middle Eastern backing

The $111 billion mega-merger is scheduled to close on 6 October. When it does, the new company will immediately rank alongside Walt Disney Co. and Netflix as one of the largest entertainment operations in the world, holding franchises from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones, the DC Universe, and Mission: Impossible.

It will also carry a monumental debt burden. The combined entity is projected to have more than $80 billion of debt. To fund the deal and pay off existing liabilities, Paramount is issuing about $42.4 billion in bonds and taking out $8.5 billion and €850 million in new loans.

Funding the takeover has required vast resources. Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle and David Ellison’s father, has personally guaranteed $46.7 billion in equity financing.

The company has also secured around $24 billion in commitments from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these three Middle Eastern funds will own 38.5% of the combined business. David Ellison and his father will control the rest alongside Gerry Cardinale, the founder of RedBird Capital Partners.

Leaving Nasdaq for the NYSE

With the closing of the merger, the company plans to move its Class B common stock from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange. Trading will begin on 6 October under the new ticker symbol "SKYD", replacing the previous ticker "PSKY".

Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief executive, is scheduled to join the company on 5 October as co-CEO alongside David Ellison.

Naming the combined business Skydance avoids a potentially awkward branding clash. Before Ellison settled on the name of the production company he founded in 2006, industry observers had resorted to shorthand hybrids like "ParaBros" or "WarnerMount".

Using a neutral corporate umbrella also helps the company manage the strictures of its recent legal battles. The deal only cleared its final hurdle on 30 September, when a judge approved a settlement ending a 12-state antitrust lawsuit that, alongside the Writers Guild of America, had challenged the merger as an illegal monopoly.

The resulting five-year consent decree requires the operations of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to remain separate in several business areas. Under the new arrangement, the legacy film studios and their respective streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max, will keep their distinct identities. CBS, Nickelodeon, and CNN will also serve as anchor brands for their respective divisions, all housed under the new Skydance banner.