Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery completed their merger on Tuesday, creating a new company that will operate under the name Skydance. The deal, valued at approximately $111 billion including the debt assumed from Warner Bros. Discovery, brings together under a single corporate structure two of Hollywood’s major historic studios, as well as major television networks, streaming platforms and film franchises.

The new Skydance will be led by David Ellison as chairman and CEO, alongside Ynon Kreiz, the former CEO of Mattel, as co-CEO. Ellison will oversee the company’s overall strategy and creative operations, while Kreiz will supervise operations and the integration of the two companies.

The deal brings together Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. with HBO, HBO Max, Paramount+, CBS, CNN, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, TNT Sports and other television and entertainment brands. Franchises including Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek and DC-related productions will also come under the same company.

The closing follows a process of approximately one year, during which Paramount competed with Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and faced regulatory and legal obstacles. In September, a federal judge approved an agreement between Paramount and the attorneys general of 12 states that had sought to block the deal over concerns related to market concentration. An agreement was also reached with the Writers Guild.

One of the new company’s main challenges will be integrating its corporate structures. Skydance aims to achieve more than $6 billion in annualized savings over the next three years through the consolidation of technology operations, suppliers, marketing, infrastructure and other expenses. The company also plans to gradually integrate Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single streaming service.

The cost-cutting process will also have consequences for employment. Ellison and Kreiz warned employees that the integration would involve changes and “difficult decisions” affecting the workforce, although the total number of positions to be eliminated has not yet been publicly disclosed. A report published in August estimated that the deal could result in the loss of around 4,500 film and television jobs in Los Angeles alone over the next three years.

The financial scale of the deal will also shape Skydance’s strategy. The company will begin operations with approximately $80 billion in debt and will need to reduce its leverage while maintaining investment in film and television production. According to the plans announced, Skydance expects to release at least 30 films per year during its first two years, increasing that figure to 32 thereafter.

The new company will also begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SKYD,” replacing the previous Paramount Skydance listing. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders received $31.01666668 in cash per share as part of the transaction.

With the merger, Skydance will control a significant portion of U.S. film and television production and distribution at a time marked by the contraction of traditional cable television, competition among streaming platforms and increasing consolidation across the industry. The integration of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery now opens a new chapter for both companies, while Skydance faces the task of determining how to reorganize its studios, platforms and production operations under a single corporate structure.