Paramount Says Warner Bros Merger Could Close in Weeks, But Timing Uncertain

Paramount Skydance says its $111 billion agreement to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery could close within the next few weeks, but the timing is still not certain.

The update was issued on Sept. 25. Paramount said the merger remains subject to further closing conditions. No close yet. Variety

To finalise the deal, Paramount set close of business on Oct. 5 as the record date, meaning the cut-off that decides which shareholders receive warrants. A warrant is an option to buy a share later at a set price. The company expects to issue about 470 million warrants on Oct. 5, but only if the acquisition closes.

Each warrant, if issued, would allow the holder to buy one Class B common share. The price would be the average share price weighted by trading volume — known as volume-weighted average price — across 20 trading days ending three business days before the merger closes. That price would be capped at a maximum of $16.02 and a minimum of $12.00 per share.

Paramount said it may cancel or postpone the record date and issue date to a later time. That caution applies to the whole timetable.

Separately, Paramount's board decided on Sept. 25 to voluntarily leave the Nasdaq Global Select Market and move its Class B listing, traded as PSKY, to the New York Stock Exchange. It expects Nasdaq trading to end at market close on or about Oct. 5. Trading on the NYSE would then begin at market open on or about Oct. 6.

The deal still faces a legal step. Paramount has reached a settlement with 12 Democratic state attorneys general that, if approved by the court, would end their antitrust lawsuit to block the merger. The judge reviewing that proposal asked the parties to file a response by Sept. 28 to a request from Sen. Cory Booker for an independent review of the agreement.

That lawsuit had threatened to delay the closing until mid-2027 and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, according to CNBC. Earlier in September, Paramount asked the court to require the state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America to post a bond tied to the costs of delay, according to a company statement.

For viewers, this means no change yet. Schedules, streaming libraries and cinema releases stay as they are until a close is confirmed. What makes this stand out is the scale of the paperwork before anything reaches a screen.