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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) agreed to sell the whole company to Paramount Skydance rather than proceed only with its previously planned separation into Warner Bros. and Discovery Global. WBD shareholders approved the deal, Paramount said required regulatory clearances had been obtained, and a federal judge approved a settlement with 12 states. As of October 3, 2026, however, the merger had not closed: the companies were targeting October 6, subject to customary closing conditions.
Who is buying Warner Bros. Discovery?
Paramount Skydance is the buyer under a merger agreement dated February 27, 2026, described in WBD’s SEC proxy statement. The agreement is between WBD, Paramount and Prince Sub Inc., a wholly owned Paramount subsidiary. Under its structure, Prince Sub would merge into WBD, and WBD would survive as a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount. The announced transaction is therefore a whole-company sale, not a purchase of only Warner Bros.
The proxy describes a process in which the board considered different separation structures and potential counterparties, including Paramount Skydance and Netflix, as well as other parties. That does not mean every company discussed or contacted made a final bid or signed an agreement. Paramount is the party to the executed merger agreement.
Why did WBD consider a sale instead of a split?
On October 21, 2025, WBD said its board had begun reviewing strategic alternatives after unsolicited interest from multiple parties for both the company as a whole and Warner Bros. At that point, the company’s planned separation of Warner Bros. and Discovery Global remained one possible path—not a decision already abandoned.
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The board said it would consider continuing the planned separation, a transaction for the whole company, or separate transactions for the two businesses. It gave no definitive timetable and cautioned that the review might not produce a transaction. The eventual signed agreement selected a whole-company transaction, but the available transaction record does not establish that the sale was certain to deliver more value than the separation would have.
How much will WBD shareholders get?
Under the companies’ September 30, 2026 announcement, WBD common shareholders are to receive $31.00 per share in cash, plus an additional $0.00277778 per share for each calendar day after September 30 through and including the closing date. The extra amount is tied to the actual closing date, so the final per-share cash total depends on when the transaction closes.
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If closing occurred on the announced target date of October 6, the daily amount would apply for six calendar days—October 1 through October 6. At the stated rate, that would add about $0.0167 per share, for approximately $31.0167 per share in total cash. This is an illustration using the anticipated date, not confirmation that closing occurred then.
The Associated Press described the merger as an $81 billion deal in its September 30 report. That headline valuation is not the same as the contractual per-share consideration, and it should not be treated as a direct substitute for the $31.00-plus-daily-amount formula. The reported headline figure alone does not establish what an individual shareholder will receive beyond the agreement’s stated per-share terms.
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Shareholder vote
WBD announced that stockholders approved the transaction at a special meeting on April 23, 2026. The company characterized the preliminary count as overwhelmingly supportive and said the final results remained subject to certification by the independent election inspector and filing with the SEC.
Regulatory clearances
On August 14, 2026, Paramount said it had satisfied all regulatory clearances required under the merger agreement. Paramount described its review as lasting eight months and spanning 68 countries; those figures are Paramount’s account of the review’s duration and geographic scope.
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The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division separately said its investigation covered both Netflix’s proposed acquisition and Paramount’s competing offer. DOJ reported that its investigation lasted eight months and that the parties provided more than two million documents from over 80 custodians. Those counts refer to materials received by DOJ during its investigation, not all documents in the sale process or all materials reviewed by regulators worldwide.
Court settlement
The Associated Press reported on September 30 that a federal judge approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 states that had sued over the takeover. That ruling cleared a path toward closing, but it was not itself the closing of the merger.
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Has the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal closed?
Not as of October 3, 2026, the latest status reflected here. On September 30, WBD and Paramount said they anticipated closing on October 6, subject to customary closing conditions. Because October 6 was still in the future on October 3, it must be treated as a target date rather than a completed event. Whether the merger closed on that date, and what followed for ownership, employees, viewers, content or competition, was not established at that point.
What this means for shareholders
For WBD common shareholders, the announced financial terms are cash consideration per share rather than an announced exchange of WBD shares for Paramount shares. The daily increment means the total stated cash amount rises with each qualifying calendar day after September 30 until closing. The company’s April vote announcement reported approval, while the exact payment timing and completed transaction status depend on closing; the target date alone does not prove payment was made.
The sale process also illustrates the difference between a signed deal and an earlier strategic review. WBD initially kept a separation and multiple transaction structures in consideration; only the February 2026 merger agreement set out the transaction with Paramount that shareholders later approved. Neither the preliminary review nor the approval vote by itself completed the sale.
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