Latham Advises Skydance (Formerly Known as Paramount) in Completed Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Creating a New Global Entertainment Leader

Skydance Corporation (f/k/a Paramount Skydance Corporation) (NYSE: SKYD) (Skydance) has announced the completion of its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBD) (WBD), creating a combined company, named Skydance. The company brings together two major film studios, two global streaming services, a premier television portfolio including CBS, HBO, and Paramount’s and WBD’s cable networks, two of the industry’s most recognized news networks, CBS News and CNN, and a portfolio of live sports including CBS Sports and TNT Sports. The transaction closed following receipt of all required regulatory approvals under the merger agreement and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Skydance Class B shares will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the new ticker symbol SKYD.

Latham & Watkins LLP represented Skydance in the transaction with an M&A team led by New York partner Ian Nussbaum and Chicago partner Max Schleusener, with associates Daniel Weissman, Maddy Berg, Jamie Reinah, Emma Giusto, Patrick Frith, Cristina Lombardi, Rheem Brooks, and Olivia Cardenas. Advice was also provided on public company representation matters by New York partners Jenna Cooper and Emily Corbi, with associate Ashley Lee; on entertainment, sports, and media matters by Los Angeles partners Rick Offsay and Liliana Paparelli Ranger, London partner Rachael Astin, and Los Angeles counsel Paul Iannicelli, with associates Sam Lehman, Alastair Mackichan, Sammy Camy, Aiyanna Sanders, Milan Amritraj, Jarren Wei Shen Koh, and Edith Chow; on US antitrust regulatory matters by Bay Area partner Joshua N. Holian, Washington, D.C. partners Bill Rinner, Caitlin Fitzpatrick, and Peter Todaro, and New York partner Katherine A. Rocco, with associates Doug Tifft, Charlotte Yeung, Jean Hyun, Hanna Nunez Tse, Alec Dougherty, Samantha Sosa, Raven Earnest, Shayna Toh, Carla Palma, and Sim Sadhra with assistance from Aimilia Kechagia; on US antitrust litigation matters by Washington, D.C. partners Maggy Sullivan and Anna Rathbun, with associates Chris Brown, Lauren Gaskin, and Sarah Stebbins with assistance from Nicolas Corti; on ex-US antitrust matters by Brussels partners Héctor Armengod, Anthemis Economou, Carles Esteva Mosso, Tomas Nilsson, and Philipp Studt, Hamburg partner Jana K. Dammann de Chapto, London partners Jonathan Parker and Simon Pritchard, with counsel Alex Reicher, Madrid partner Jose Maria Jimenez-Laiglesia, with counsel Carlos Betoret, Hong Kong counsel Yanyan Yang, and associates Anna Escrigas Cañameras, Maria Loudjeva, Friederike Hammwöhner, Panos Kokkinidis, Enrique Fayos de Arizón, Edd Rarity, and Nayantara Ravichandran; on capital markets matters by Washington, D.C./New York partner Jason Licht, New York partners Benjamin Cohen and Kaj Nielsen and counsel Lucas Balchun, with associates Jack Anderson, Madison Venezia, Sarah Branch, Molly Mitchell, and Brittany Grego; on finance matters by New York partners Joshua Tinkelman and Emily Johnson, with associates Chen Tang, Young Joo, Jenny Lyubomudrova, Kerry Pemberton, and Nick Massoni; on securities law matters by Washington, D.C. partners Michele Anderson and William Hackett and New York partner Senet Bischoff; on derivatives matters by New York partner Reza Mojtabaee-Zamani, with associates Shawn Noh and Adam Zhang; on benefits matters by Los Angeles partner Julie Crisp, with associates Joseph Benedetto and Maddie Bober; on labor matters by Chicago partner Nineveh Alkhas; on intellectual property and data and technology transactions matters by Orange County partner Ghaith Mahmood, with associate Jesse Haywood Kirkland; on tax matters by Los Angeles partner Pardis Zomorodi and New York partner Aaron Bernstein, with associate Jeremiah Cowen; on real estate matters by New York partner Dara Denberg; on sanctions matters by Washington, D.C. partners Paul Rosen and James Barker, and counsel Ruchi Gill; on FCC matters by Washington, D.C. partners Matthew Brill and Elizabeth Park with associates Christine Kalpin and Matt Crawford; on activism matters by Chicago partner Chris Drewry and New York counsel Adam Tamzoke; on litigation matters by New York partners Blair Connelly, Sarah Lightdale, and Zachary Rowen, and London partner Nell Perks, with associate Annabel McCullagh; and on data privacy and cybersecurity matters by Bay Area partner Robert Blamires, with associate Kathryn Parsons-Reponte.