Official: Paramount To Buy Warner Bros. Discovery, Targets Q3 2026 Close

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached a final agreement for Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal, approved by both companies’ boards, will see Paramount pay $31.00 in cash for each share of Warner Bros. Discovery stock.

Paramount plans to bring together all of its studios and popular brands – like Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible, DC, Game of Thrones, Top Gun, and SpongeBob SquarePants – under a single company.

When the deal could close and what happens if it slips

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery anticipate finalizing their deal in the third quarter of 2026, assuming they receive the necessary regulatory approvals and Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders vote in favor. They expect the shareholder vote to happen in early spring of 2026.

If the agreement isn’t finalized by September 30, 2026, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will receive a small payment of $0.25 per share for each quarter—calculated daily—until the deal is completed.

Streaming plan: Paramount+ plus HBO Max plus Pluto

Paramount is presenting the merger as a way to focus on streaming directly to viewers, using services like Paramount+, HBO Max, and Pluto. According to the company, this will help them reach a wider audience, keep viewers more engaged, and ultimately make more money in the competitive streaming market.

Theatrical commitment and release windows

As a movie fan, I’m really excited to hear that the new Paramount will be releasing at least 30 movies a year in theaters! They’ve said it’ll be about 15 films per year from each studio, which means plenty of new content to look forward to on the big screen.

Paramount has announced its plan for releasing movies in theaters and then making them available to rent online. Every new film will play in cinemas for at least 45 days worldwide before becoming available on demand. For particularly popular movies, that theatrical run will be even longer – between 60 and 90 days, or more. Paramount will also continue to follow specific release rules for certain countries, like France.

Money terms: valuation, synergies, and financing

I’m hearing that Paramount believes Warner Bros. Discovery is worth $81 billion based on its stock value and $110 billion overall, and they’re basing that on what they think the company’s earnings will be in 2026, after they’ve fully combined operations – they’re estimating about 7.5 times those earnings.

Paramount anticipates more than $6 billion in savings and improvements by combining its technology, streamlining operations, reducing costs in areas like purchasing, and changing its real estate holdings.

To fund the deal, Paramount plans to issue $47 billion worth of new Class B shares at $16.02 each, with financial backing from the Ellison Family and RedBird Capital Partners. They’ve also secured $54 billion in debt financing from Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo, and confirm the deal isn’t contingent on securing this funding. Current shareholders will have the opportunity to purchase up to $3.25 billion of these new shares at the same price ($16.02) closer to when the deal is finalized.

What Paramount says about leadership and next steps

David Ellison explains that Paramount approached Warner Bros. Discovery with the goal of creating a new, forward-looking media company that would respect the histories of both organizations. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav stated he’s happy with the result for his company’s investors, emphasizing that the discussions were centered on getting the best possible value for assets and providing investors with more stability.

Paramount has withdrawn its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) after the two companies signed a merger agreement.

Conference call date and time

Paramount will hold a conference call and live online broadcast on Monday, March 2nd at 8:30 AM Eastern Time to talk about the merger. More information can be found on the Investor Relations section of Paramount’s website.

2026-02-28 02:02