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Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison says the combined company with Warner Bros Discovery will be called Skydance, with a legal name change to Skydance Corporation and a move to the NYSE on October 6.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on Friday said the combined entity created by the company's merger with Warner Bros Discovery will be called Skydance. Ellison added that the move was aimed at maintaining the separate identities of the Paramount and Warner Bros studios, rather than having a new corporate identity overshadow them.
Skydance Unites Paramount and Warner Bros
The combined company will be an entertainment behemoth spanning film, TV and news. It will unite the studios behind the Mission: Impossible and Harry Potter films with major television and streaming networks such as CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max. Ellison explained the thinking in a social media post. He wrote that the company never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one.
He added that instead they wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros, and all their extraordinary brands, to remain in the spotlight. The company plans to change its legal name to Skydance Corporation on October 6, according to a regulatory filing. On the same day, its Class B shares are expected to move from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange.
The shares will trade under the ticker SKYD instead of PSKY after the move. The legal name change and listing shift mark another step in the integration of the two businesses. Market analysts weighed in on the name choice. Ross Benes, senior analyst at Emarketer, said the name is ego-driven.
Warner Bros Acquisition Clears Legal Hurdle
He said it reminds everyone that the most iconic Hollywood brands answer to Ellison and it is his company who won out. A U.S. judge on Wednesday entered an order allowing Paramount Skydance to close its US$110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. The order ended a months-long holdup. The order approved a September 21 settlement with a California-led group of 12 states that had sued to block the merger.
Those states argued it would create a media giant capable of driving up film and TV prices. Matthew Dolgin, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, joined BNN Bloomberg to discuss how the Paramount settlement clears a major hurdle for the Warner deal. Ellison earlier this week named Ynon Kreiz as his co-CEO. Kreiz is the Mattel CEO, and he has been tasked with running day-to-day operations and leading the integration.
New Leadership Targets Billions in Savings
The appointment frees Ellison up to helm creative direction and overall strategy. The duo faces a target of saving US$6 billion in costs while managing roughly US$80 billion in combined debt. The transaction brings together film and television assets under one corporate roof. It also joins news operations, including CNN, with the Paramount and Warner Bros studios and their streaming services.
The merger has drawn attention because of its size and reach across entertainment and news. The settlement with the states removed a key legal obstacle that had delayed closing. The combined company will keep Paramount and Warner Bros as prominent brands while operating under the Skydance corporate name. The legal name change is set for October 6, the same day the stock is expected to begin trading on the NYSE under SKYD.
Reporting by Anzar Mehraj, Deborah Sophia and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas; Editing by Joyjeet Das.
BNNBloomberg 
CP24:David Ellison says combined Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery will be named SkydanceThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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