RedBird Pours Another $4 Billion Into Paramount-WBD Merger

RedBird Capital Partners has thrown another $4 billion into the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter. The new equity financing brings RedBird's total commitment to the combined company to $6 billion.

The merger closed Tuesday. David Ellison's Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion, creating a new entity called Skydance. The deal marries two legacy studios, a portfolio of TV networks, streaming services and news outlets into a media colossus looking to compete with Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Google.

The initial financing round raised roughly $47 billion in equity from Oracle scion Larry Ellison and RedBird. That pool later expanded to include Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. THR reports RedBird's relationship with Ellison dates to 2019, when the firm first invested $275 million into Skydance. That earlier stake, alongside the Ellison family, formed the investor group that agreed to acquire National Amusements and combine Skydance with Paramount.

RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale, in a statement announcing the close, said the company will "build a stronger Hollywood" in a "media landscape that's undergoing transformation change." He called it "a defining moment for the industry." Earlier, Cardinale had said RedBird's initial $2 billion commitment was the largest private equity investment in a Hollywood studio.

The additional $4 billion fortifies RedBird's position as one of two investors controlling Paramount's voting stock, alongside the Ellison family. Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz now face paying down more than $80 billion in debt from the deal.

RedBird is active elsewhere in media, entertainment and sports. THR notes its portfolio includes Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity, Banijay, Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro's Mari, EverPass Media, Everwonder, Front Office Sports, Puck and the United Football League.

• David Ellison
• Gerry Cardinale
• Paramount+
• RedBird Capital Partners
• Skydance
• Warner Bros. Discovery