Paramount said today it’s successfully completed the syndication of a previously disclosed bridge facility and entered into permanent financing transactions with a group of 18 lenders to support its planned merger with Warner Bros. Discovery
The transactions include a two-tranche senior secured term loan facility and a senior secured revolving credit facility.
Par said in an SEC filing the aggregate commitments under the bridge facility have been reduced from $54 billion to $49 billion, and commitments for the previously disclosed $3.5 billion revolving facility have been reduced to zero. Syndicating the bridge commitments to a larger group of banks lessens the exposure of the deal’s three primary lenders Citibank, Bank of America and Apollo.
PSKY also amended its existing senior unsecured revolving credit facility to increase committed liquidity from $3.5 billion to $5 billion in advance of the closing.
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Par earlier this week, clinched $24 billion in equity investments from Middle East investors, including $10 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. It expects the merger to close in the third quarter. Paramount is led by David Ellison and backed by the Ellison family. Billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison guaranteed the equity portion under the terms of the deal.
“Our successful debt syndication and new debt facilities represent another important milestone towards the completion of our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. This progress follows closely on the heels of our equity syndication, which diversifies our shareholder base and yields potential for strategic and commercial opportunities,” said Andy Gordon, Paramount’s Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
Paramount will pay WBD shareholders $31 a share in cash in the mega-deal pending regulatory approval and a vote by WBD shareholders set for April 23.