The US Department of Justice has officially cleared Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, removing the most significant regulatory obstacle standing between the entertainment industry and its biggest-ever consolidation. The deal values WBD at approximately $110.9 billion in enterprise value, translating to $31 per share in cash for WBD equity plus assumed debt.
How the deal came together
The acquisition was first announced on February 27, 2026, capping off a competitive auction process that began when Paramount made unsolicited offers starting in September 2025. Netflix also reportedly submitted a competing proposal during the bidding war.
WBD shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger on April 23, 2026. Bondholders followed suit in late May, adding another layer of corporate consent before the DOJ’s Antitrust Division delivered its clearance on June 12, 2026.
Paramount Skydance, trading under the ticker PSKY on Nasdaq, is led by CEO David Ellison. WBD, still listed as WBD on Nasdaq, has David Zaslav at the helm.
The financing behind the megadeal
The financing structure includes a $15 billion leveraged loan tranche, a significant chunk of capital market activity that signals strong institutional appetite for the combined company’s future cash flows.
What’s still pending
The DOJ clearance is a major milestone, but it’s not the finish line. European regulators and other international review bodies still have pending proceedings examining the deal. Any conditions imposed by European regulators could affect the scope of the merger’s international operations, with forced divestitures of certain regional assets or content licensing arrangements among the standard tools in the EU’s regulatory playbook.
The $15 billion in leveraged financing also deserves attention from a risk perspective. If streaming subscriber growth stalls or advertising revenue contracts, that debt load could become a significant drag on the combined company’s balance sheet.