Paramount says $6bn Warner Bros savings will not hinge on layoffs

Paramount will not rely on layoffs to deliver most of its $6 billion in promised savings from the $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

That was the message from board member Gerry Cardinale on Thursday at the Bloomberg Screentime conference, days before the deal is due to close on Tuesday, according to Deadline. Cardinale said the majority of the savings, described in deal talk as cost synergies, meaning money saved by combining two companies, will come from non-labour spending.

Cardinale is the founder of RedBird Capital, which is a major investor-partner in Paramount. He spoke as the executive team faces close attention from staff on both sides of the merger over jobs.

The $6 billion figure is central to how Paramount has sold the deal to lenders and investors. Paramount Skydance has promised to cut $6 billion in costs within three years, Bloomberg reported on 30 September. Paramount has also said it expects the acquisition to yield over $6 billion in synergies driven in part by technology integration, according to company materials.

Technology is where Cardinale pointed for savings. Paramount has already unified its tech stacks, meaning the underlying systems that run streaming services, across Paramount+, Pluto and BET+. The plan is to do the same with HBO Max after the merger closes.

The deal itself is structured as a full takeover. Paramount will acquire 100% of Warner Bros. Discovery for $31 per share in cash, plus a ticking fee, according to a Paramount press statement. Company filings value that at $81 billion in equity value and $110 billion in enterprise value, a term that includes debt as well as equity.

That price followed a long fight for the company. Paramount launched an all-cash tender offer, meaning an offer made directly to shareholders, at $30 per share in December 2025. It later raised its offer and added a 25-cent-per-share quarterly ticking fee in cash starting in 2027, worth about $650 million, according to Reuters.

Regulatory pressure eased last month. Paramount Skydance reached a settlement with California and other states that sued to block the acquisition, Bloomberg reported on 21 September. The settlement covered suits brought by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild trade union.

For staff and viewers, this means the next test is practical. A crew of two hundred still needs to know who commissions the next season. A writers’ room still needs to know if its story gets finished. Cardinale’s comments set an expectation that technology and purchasing, not jobs, will carry most of the savings. The closing will show how that plays out.