Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will trade as Skydance from 6 October

David Ellison said on Friday, 2 October, that the company formed from Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance. He gave the name in a video on X. The deal is due to close on Tuesday, 6 October, and the shares will trade under the ticker SKYD, Axios and the Polish trade site Wirtualnemedia.pl report.

Ellison keeps Paramount, HBO and CNN as separate brands

The new name covers only the parent company. Ellison said it gives the group “an identity of its own” while Paramount, Warner Bros. and the other brands stay in the spotlight. HBO Max, CBS, CNN, DC and Nickelodeon keep their names.

Skydance is the production company Ellison founded two decades ago. It merged with Paramount last year. Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief executive, becomes co-CEO and will run day-to-day operations. Ellison will focus on strategy.

Paramount pays $31 a share for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount is paying $31 per share in cash, adjusted to just over $31.01 by the closing date. The deal values Warner Bros. Discovery at about $81 billion in equity and $110 billion including debt.

The last obstacles fell in September. Paramount reached a settlement with 12 state attorneys general, and a federal judge approved that settlement. The company also struck an agreement with the Writers Guild of America, which had opposed the deal.

TVN staff in Poland got an email about 6 October

The merger reaches beyond Hollywood. Warner Bros. Discovery owns TVN, one of the largest broadcasters in Poland. Its communications team emailed TVN staff to confirm the closing date and said more messages would follow. The email gave no detail on what changes for the channel.

Europe already has one open file. Comcast and Paramount have been weighing the future of SkyShowtime, their joint streaming service in 22 European countries.

For media buyers in Poland and the rest of Europe, the question is who will sell ads on TVN, HBO Max and Paramount+ after Tuesday. Neither company has said yet. TVN staff were told to wait for news after the closing.