Paramount to finance Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition with roughly $50B in debt

The $110.9 billion all-cash deal represents the largest media merger in history, backed by 18 lenders and projected to leave the combined entity with nearly $80 billion in net debt.

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Add us on Google by Editorial Team May. 27, 2026

Paramount Skydance is putting roughly $50 billion on the corporate credit card to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, a financing package so large it required 18 banks and financial institutions to share the risk. The all-cash acquisition, valued at approximately $110.9 billion or $31 per share, is the kind of deal that makes even seasoned Wall Street types pause and do the math twice.

The debt syndicate backing the transaction includes Citigroup, Bank of America, Apollo, and JPMorgan, among others. Collectively, they’ve committed between $49 billion and $54 billion in debt financing, with the remainder of the purchase price covered by new equity investments from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital.

Inside the biggest media deal ever assembled

The definitive agreement was reached on February 27, 2026, capping off a competitive bidding war that, at one point, included an offer from Netflix. Warner Bros. Discovery ultimately rejected the streaming giant’s bid in favor of Paramount Skydance’s superior proposal.

Debt syndication was completed in April 2026, a critical milestone that confirmed the financial market’s willingness to underwrite a transaction of this magnitude. Shareholder votes have been initiated, and WBD has entered discussions with its existing debt holders to modify current loan terms in preparation for the deal’s closure.

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The projected post-deal leverage tells the real story of what’s at stake here. Analysts estimate the combined entity’s net debt will approach $80 billion, with an EBITDA multiple of approximately 7x.

Paramount Skydance has framed the deal as a value-creation engine, projecting synergies exceeding $6 billion from the merger.

A media landscape forcing consolidation

Warner Bros. Discovery itself was the product of a previous mega-merger, when Discovery acquired WarnerMedia from AT&T. That deal left WBD saddled with significant debt, which made the company a target for a buyer with the financial backing to absorb and restructure those obligations.

Paramount Global, meanwhile, went through its own transformation after Skydance Media, backed by David Ellison and Larry Ellison’s investment, took control of the company. That merger gave the combined Paramount Skydance entity the scale and financial backing needed to pursue an acquisition of this size.

What this means for investors

At approximately 7x EBITDA leverage, the combined Paramount-WBD entity will need to execute its integration plan almost flawlessly to service that debt while continuing to invest in content and technology.

For bond investors, the debt modification discussions currently underway with WBD’s existing creditors will be a critical signal. The terms that emerge from those negotiations will reveal how much financial flexibility the combined company will actually have in its early years.

The 18-lender syndicate structure itself is worth watching. When that many institutions are needed to spread risk on a single deal, it suggests that no individual bank wanted excessive exposure.

Regulatory approval remains the final hurdle. Combining two of the largest media conglomerates in the world will draw scrutiny from antitrust regulators, and any conditions imposed, such as forced asset divestitures, could alter the deal’s economics meaningfully.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.