Ellison says combined Paramount-Warner will be renamed Skydance

Settlement requires $1.5 billion added US production investment

Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said Friday he would rename his combined company Skydance after completing the $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, resolving the antitrust case brought by a dozen state attorneys general. A federal judge approved Paramount’s settlement with the 12 states on Wednesday, paving the way for the deal to close, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Ellison announced the new corporate name on social media Friday, saying “Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture.” “By combining them, we aren’t rewriting history—we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine,” Ellison said. Skydance will focus on “bold, quality storytelling,” Ellison said.

The settlement resolved an antitrust case that the dozen Democratic attorneys general, led by California, had brought against the merger earlier this year. The suit had held up the deal and threatened to stop Ellison’s plan to combine the two media companies into a single corporate parent, the Journal reported.

Under the settlement’s terms, Paramount agreed to invest at least $1.5 billion more in domestic production over five years and to commit funds for a workforce-training program for the entertainment industry.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the settlement last week. “This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger,” Bonta said. “It is not a blessing of the broader merger.” The agreement takes into account workers’ needs and helps domestic production, he added.

Ellison, in a statement at the time, said “our goal has always been to build a stronger Hollywood—one with more stories told, greater choice for consumers and stronger competition.” He described the resolution as one that “serves all parties.”

The combined company will bring together the studios behind “The Godfather,” “Top Gun” and “South Park.” The $81 billion transaction will give the new firm control of the studios that Ellison said “shaped over a century of culture.”