Paramount Secures Financing for $110 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

Paramount is finalizing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at approximately $110 billion. To fund the takeover, the company is preparing to sell a $49 billion debt package, including $30 billion in investment-grade bonds, $12 billion in second-lien bonds, and a $7.5 billion senior secured term loan. The combined entity is projected to carry roughly $80 billion in debt upon closing.

CEO David Ellison is considering recruiting Elon Musk to join a syndicate of equity investors to diversify the financial burden. Currently, the merger relies heavily on a personal guarantee of over $40 billion from Oracle founder Larry Ellison, alongside $24 billion from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The potential addition of Musk has drawn criticism from Democrats who fear editorial interference at CNN and CBS News.

To clear the path for the merger, Paramount settled antitrust lawsuits with 12 state attorneys general, led by California, and the Writers Guild of America. The settlement requires Paramount to invest $1.5 billion in U.S. film production over five years, maintain specific annual cinema release quotas, and establish a news editorial independence board for CNN and CBS. The deal is expected to close within two weeks, pending judicial approval of the consent decree. Paramount faces significant pressure to close quickly to avoid paying Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders $7 million per day starting October 1.