Paramount Skydance to Launch $49 Billion Debt Sale for Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover After Lawsuit Settlements

Bankers are preparing to sell $49 billion in debt financing backing Paramount Skydance Corp.'s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. after the company settled lawsuits that had stalled the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. underwrote the package, which includes roughly $30 billion of investment-grade bonds, $7.5 billion of investment-grade loans and about $12 billion of second-lien bonds. The structure targets both dollar and euro investors and blends high-grade with junk debt, an unusual combination for a leveraged buyout. The financing carries no interest-rate caps, allowing lenders to pass rising borrowing costs to Paramount, unlike the hung-loan losses banks suffered in 2022. Regulators in nearly 70 jurisdictions have approved the merger, and the FCC has cleared the foreign financing component. The deal would give Paramount control of two major Hollywood studios, two streaming services and dozens of TV channels including CBS and HBO.