Paramount Skydance has attracted more than $109 billion of investor orders for its investment-grade bond offering to help finance the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, representing approximately 3.6 times the amount expected to be sold after banks shifted part of the financing into loans, according to Bloomberg.
The strong demand comes as Paramount assembles one of the largest acquisition financing packages ever brought to the corporate debt markets.
Paramount had initially announced plans to offer approximately $44.4 billion of senior secured notes, consisting of U.S. dollar-denominated first-lien notes and U.S. dollar- and euro-denominated second-lien notes.
The proceeds, combined with cash on hand, term loans and previously announced equity financing, are intended to help fund Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and refinance certain existing debt.
Banks subsequently increased the loan portion of the financing after strong demand from investors.
The dollar-denominated term loan was increased to $8.5 billion from an initially planned $6.5 billion, while the euro-denominated loan remains equivalent to approximately $1 billion.
That change reduced the amount expected to be raised through investment-grade bonds by approximately $2 billion.
The bond and loan financings form part of an approximately $52 billion debt package supporting the Warner Bros. Discovery transaction.
Paramount had previously launched syndication of a $7.5 billion incremental Term B facility, subject to market conditions, before beginning the larger bond marketing process.
The overall bond transaction originally contemplated approximately $32 billion of investment-grade debt and $12.4 billion of high-yield bonds.
The high-yield portion includes U.S. dollar and euro tranches with maturities extending across several years, while the investment-grade sale includes multiple dollar-denominated maturities.
The more than $109 billion of orders reported for the high-grade portion reflects significant institutional demand for the financing despite the substantial increase in leverage associated with the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
Paramount agreed in February to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $31 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $110 billion on an enterprise-value basis.
The combination would bring together major entertainment assets including Paramount Pictures, CBS, Paramount+, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, DC Studios, and Warner Bros. Television, along with franchises spanning Harry Potter, DC, Game of Thrones, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
The transaction’s financing also includes approximately $47 billion of new Paramount Class B shares at $16.02 per share, supported by committed investment from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners.
That equity financing is being used alongside the new debt package, Paramount’s cash resources and other financing arrangements to fund the acquisition and related transactions.
Paramount has also been restructuring portions of Warner Bros. Discovery’s existing debt ahead of the combination.
Earlier in 2026, Paramount launched cash tender offers covering up to $2.4 billion of certain Warner Bros. Discovery-related notes and exchange offers involving as much as $12.8 billion of existing debt, replacing qualifying securities with newly issued Paramount notes.
The latest debt marketing process follows delays as Paramount worked through legal issues surrounding the transaction.
The company began moving forward with the permanent acquisition financing after settlements were reached in litigation involving state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America.
The substantial investor demand gives the banks financing the acquisition additional flexibility to shift capital between bond and loan markets while seeking to complete the debt package.
For Paramount, completing the financing represents another major step toward funding the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition and establishing the capital structure of the combined media company.
