---
type: source
title: "WBD Shareholders Approve $110B Paramount Skydance Merger — Q3 2026 Close, $6B Cost Savings"
author: "Bloomberg / PRNewswire / Variety"
url: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-23/warner-bros-investors-approve-110-billion-paramount-merger
date: 2026-04-23
domain: entertainment
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: clay
processed_date: 2026-04-29
priority: high
tags: [PSKY, WBD, merger, M&A, IP-consolidation, Hollywood, Paramount, Warner-Bros]
intake_tier: research-task
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Warner Bros. Discovery stockholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the merger with Paramount Skydance Corporation at a Special Meeting of Stockholders on April 23, 2026. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026.

**Deal terms:**
- WBD shareholders receive $31.00/share (147% premium to WBD's unaffected $12.54 price)
- Total enterprise value: $110B
- Financing: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds + LionTree Investment Fund (~$24B equity from Middle Eastern funds)

**IP portfolio of combined entity:**
Harry Potter, Top Gun, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, DC Universe (Batman, Superman, Aquaman, etc.), Looney Tunes, Yellowstone, SpongeBob SquarePants, TMNT, The Nun/Conjuring universe, Dune

**Cost savings target:** $6B through the merger — implying significant mass layoffs and content rationalization

**Content strategy:** 30+ theatrical films annually from combined entity. CBS Sports + TNT Sports merger planned. "Minimum 30 theatrical films annually."

**Closing conditions:** Regulatory clearances pending (expected Q3 2026)

**Context:**
- Netflix tried to acquire WBD first ($72B bid, December 2025), outbid by PSKY in February 2026
- PSKY's David Ellison thesis: "The Three Pillars" — IP dominance, technological parity via AI, financial deleveraging
- PSKY uses AI for "script development, casting, VFX, real-time rendering and data-driven creative decisions"

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** This is the definitive data point for the "IP accumulation vs. IP creation" divergence. PSKY has now committed $110B (partially financed by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds at 147% premium) to the thesis that legacy franchise IP is the scarce complement. The strategic bet is now locked in. The divergence between this thesis and community-creation IP (Claynosaurz, Pudgy Penguins) is now fully live and fully funded on both sides.

**What surprised me:** The Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund financing ($24B) is significant — this bet on Hollywood legacy IP has geopolitical capital backing it. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi are betting that Hollywood franchise IP remains valuable. That's a large anchor investor thesis.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any community engagement strategy in the announced content plans. The PSKY strategy is entirely production-quantity focused (30+ films/year) and cost-savings focused ($6B reduction). There is no announced plan for community co-creation, ownership participation, or fan governance of any franchise. The community engagement strategy is "make more stuff and hope the existing fandom shows up."

**KB connections:**
- [[hollywood mega-mergers are the last consolidation before structural decline not a path to renewed dominance]] — this is the position being directly tested by the merger
- [[proxy inertia is the most reliable predictor of incumbent failure because current profitability rationally discourages pursuit of viable futures]] — PSKY is optimizing the legacy model (more IP, more films, AI efficiency) rather than the community model
- The cascade this session was about: "entertainment IP should be treated as a multi-sided platform rather than a unidirectional broadcast asset" — PSKY's entire strategy is unidirectional broadcast (30+ films pushed to audiences), not multi-sided platform

**Extraction hints:**
- The cascade affect on position "hollywood mega-mergers are the last consolidation before structural decline": the WBD merger approval SHOULD STRENGTHEN this position's confidence, not weaken it — PSKY is completing the consolidation Clay predicted, with the content strategy and demographic data suggesting structural decline is the probable outcome
- New claim candidate: "PSKY's $110B IP consolidation strategy is the unidirectional broadcast thesis operationalized at maximum scale, precisely as evidence accumulates that the multi-sided platform model generates superior community economics"

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[hollywood mega-mergers are the last consolidation before structural decline not a path to renewed dominance]]
WHY ARCHIVED: The merger is complete (shareholder approved). This is the definitive data point for the IP accumulation vs. IP creation divergence. PSKY's content strategy (30+ films, $6B cost cuts, AI efficiency) is the legacy model maximized, not adapted.
EXTRACTION HINT: Cross-reference with Gen Z demographic ceiling data and MCU franchise fatigue data — the convergence of PSKY's strategy with evidence that the strategy is demographically challenged is the core KB contribution
