Wall Street Banks Increase Warner Bros Loan Package to Over $10 Billion Ahead of Paramount Merger
A group of major Wall Street banks has increased the size of a loan package for Warner Bros Discovery to more than $10 billion, as the media company prepares to refinance part of its debt before its planned merger with Paramount Skydance.
The financing is being led by JPMorgan, with the U.S. dollar term loan rising to $9 billion from an earlier size of $5 billion. A separate €1 billion loan, equal to about $1.16 billion, remains unchanged.
The transaction also includes several major financial institutions as bookrunners, including Barclays, BNP, Deutsche Bank, NatWest, RBC, UBS, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs.
The refinancing comes as Paramount continues to move forward with its planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. The deal, valued at around $110 billion, was recently signed after Netflix decided not to increase its competing offer.
The merger would create one of the largest media groups in the industry, bringing together Paramount’s assets such as CBS, MTV, Comedy Central and BET with Warner Bros Discovery’s portfolio, which includes CNN, TNT and Food Network.
JPMorgan has already generated significant fees from Warner Bros-related transactions, reportedly earning $189 million in financing and advisory fees earlier this year.
