Merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global
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On July 7, 2024, American media companies Skydance Media and Paramount Global announced a definitive agreement to merge in a deal valued at $8 billion, forming a new entity known as "Paramount Skydance Corporation". The agreement values the newly formed entity at approximately $28 billion. In 2023, after grappling with debt and striving to remain competitive in the entertainment industry, Paramount's parent company, National Amusements, explored potential merger and acquisition opportunities for Paramount Global. Numerous prominent companies, such as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apollo Global Management, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Allen Media Group, and Skydance Media, had indicated their interest in exploring potential business partnerships or purchasing the company. After first coming to a merger deal with Skydance, Paramount and Skydance canceled the proposed merger on June 11 due to unsatisfactory conversations. Following a break in the talks, Skydance was able to reach a preliminary agreement on July 2, 2024, to perform a 3-way merger between it, National Amusements, and Paramount to establish what was then known as "New Paramount". After the merger closed, Skydance Media CEO David Ellison became the chairman and CEO of the combined company and Jeff Shell became the president. The deal was expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending required regulatory approvals, according to reports. Either party was given the option to end the deal if it wasn't closed by April 7, 2025, subject to two automatic 90 day extensions, or if it was blocked by a government regulator, with Paramount having to pay a $400 million termination fee. Paramount said in February 2025 and May 2025 that it expected the transaction to close within the first half of the year, but it did not happen. With the deal not yet approved, the first automatic extension to July 7, 2025 went into effect on April 8, 2025, after which the second automatic extension to October 4, 2025 went into effect on July 7, 2025. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission (EC) approved the transaction in February 2025. On July 22, 2025, it was reported that Oracle Corporation was in talks with Skydance Media for a $100 million-per-year contract to provide cloud software once the latter's acquisition of Paramount Global is completed. On July 24, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. On August 1, 2025, Skydance announced that the transaction would close six days later, which occurred on August 7, 2025.