Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Gets Its Name: Skydance

The merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate will be called Skydance, chairman and CEO David Ellison announced Friday in the first post on a newly created X account.

Ellison chose the name of his original film production company, Skydance Media, to encompass everything entering the new conglomerate. The deal closes Oct. 6, the companies have announced.

The merger combines two of Hollywood's biggest movie studios, the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services, and TV businesses including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Food Network. The new company's franchises 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 joins the company Oct. 5.

The company plans to move its Class B Common Stock from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange, where it begins trading Oct. 6. It intends to change the ticker symbol from "PSKY" to "SKYD" and amend its certificate of incorporation to change the company's name to "Skydance Corporation."

"Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture," Ellison wrote. "By combining them, we aren't rewriting history — we're equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine. Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling."

Ellison explained the reasoning behind the name in detail. "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," he wrote. "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 continued. "At the same time, we will honor what makes Paramount and Warner Bros. special — giving both studios the opportunity to grow, tell more great stories and bring those stories to even broader audiences around the world, powered by the scale and capabilities of Skydance. I couldn't be more excited about what we're going to build together."

Ellison prevailed in a yearlong campaign to close the $111 billion deal, outbidding Netflix — which had an agreement to buy Warner Bros.' streaming and studios businesses — and settling an antitrust lawsuit brought by 12 states seeking to block the merger. On Sept. 30, the judge overseeing that lawsuit approved the settlement between Paramount and the state attorneys general, clearing the deal's last hurdle.

Industry wags had playfully dubbed the pending combination "ParaBros" and "WarnerMount," but neither name was ever a serious contender.

The new company will carry projected debt north of $80 billion, after assuming the debt burdens from previous M&A incurred by Paramount and WBD and raising new debt financing. Paramount is issuing about $42.4 billion in bonds and taking out $8.5 billion and €850 million in new loans to help fund the Warner Bros. deal and repay existing debt.

Control of the new Skydance will rest with David Ellison and his father, Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison, alongside Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners. Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $46.7 billion in equity financing for the WBD takeover. Paramount has also lined up about $24 billion in commitments from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates; according to Paramount, the three Middle Eastern funds will own 38.5% of the combined company.

When trading begins on the NYSE under "SKYD" on Oct. 6, the name Skydance — a 15-year-old production outfit suddenly sitting atop a century of Hollywood catalog — will be tested against the scale of its ambitions and its debt.