SpaceX Seeks $40B Apollo-Led Financing for Nvidia Chips
SpaceX is reportedly seeking about $40B to finance a major Nvidia chip purchase, with Apollo Global Management expected to lead the financing. The package could include roughly $10B of bank loans and $30B of investment-grade debt, the Financial Times reported, adding another large financing commitment to the AI infrastructure buildout. Separately, David Ellison said technology will be central to Skydance's strategy following the completion of its $110B acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, noting in a memo obtained by Business Insider that technology is changing how content is created, distributed, and consumed. Constellation Energy jumped 12.2% Tuesday after announcing a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google tied to 890 MW of additional nuclear generation, lifting Talen Energy, Vistra, and NRG Energy by 12.4%, 10.7%, and 7%, respectively, while the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR rose 3%. Chevron agreed to sell interests in Hess Midstream and its DJ Basin crude midstream assets as it restructures related contracts, with revised Bakken agreements expected to cut midstream costs for its Bakken operations by roughly half. Ray Dalio warned the AI investment cycle is approaching a point where rising interest rates and heavy borrowing could trigger a reversal.
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SPCX · Capital · Positive SpaceX is seeking about $40B in Apollo-led financing to fund a major Nvidia chip purchase.
APO · Capital · Positive Apollo is expected to lead the ~$40B financing package for SpaceX's Nvidia chip purchase.
SKYD · Technology · Neutral David Ellison said technology will be central to Skydance's strategy after its $110B Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, but no concrete product or financial development was specified.
CEG · Demand · Positive Constellation jumped 12.2% after signing a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google tied to 890 MW of additional nuclear generation.
NVDA · Demand · Positive SpaceX is seeking ~$40B to finance a major Nvidia chip purchase, a concrete order for Nvidia's products.
TLN · Demand · Positive Constellation Energy jumped 12.2% after signing a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google tied to 890 MW of additional nuclear generation.
Skydance Restructures WBD Debt After Completing Acquisition
Skydance said nearly all bondholders participated in its debt tender and exchange offers following the company's completion of its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. About 98.83% of the aggregate principal amount of notes covered by the cash tender offers was validly tendered, while 99.15% of the notes included in the exchange offers were tendered. Under the exchange offers, eligible holders received newly issued Skydance notes in exchange for their existing WBD notes, and notes accepted in the tender and exchange offers will be retired and cancelled. Some exchanged WBD notes carry significantly higher coupons under Skydance: WBD's 4.125% notes due 2029 were exchanged for 6.25% Skydance notes, while its 4.054% notes due 2029 were exchanged for 6.304% Skydance notes. The offers were made in connection with Skydance's acquisition of WBD, which closed on October 6, with settlement expected on October 9. Separately, Fitch downgraded Paramount's credit ratings as the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition closed, citing materially higher leverage, integration and execution risks, and uncertainty around achieving the targeted $6B of cost savings.
PSKY · Capital · Negative Fitch downgraded Paramount's credit ratings on materially higher leverage, integration/execution risks, and uncertainty over $6B cost savings after the WBD acquisition closed.
SKYD · Capital · Neutral Skydance completed its WBD acquisition and restructured the acquired debt via tender and exchange offers, issuing new higher-coupon notes.
WBD · Capital · Neutral WBD notes were tendered/exchanged into new Skydance notes with higher coupons and retired as Skydance completed its acquisition of WBD.
Skydance Names Board for Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Combination, Adds Laurene Powell Jobs, Bobby Kotick and Tony Blair
Skydance Corporation announced the director and advisor designees for the newly combined company formed through Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, effective immediately. David Ellison will chair the Board and continue as Skydance's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and the Board will include all current members of Paramount's Board plus three new additions: Ynon Kreiz, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Skydance; Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective; and Bobby Kotick, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Activision. Powell Jobs and Kotick will join as Independent Directors, while former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will serve as a Board Advisor in a personal capacity and is Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Kotick served as CEO of Activision for 32 years, a tenure that culminated in the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft for $68.7 billion, the largest transaction in the history of the video game industry. Skydance, which trades on the NYSE under the symbol SKYD, is composed of three business segments — Studios, Direct-to-Consumer, and TV Media — and its portfolio unites brands including Paramount, Warner Bros., HBO, Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS, CNN, CBS Sports, TNT Sports, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, MTV, Food Network, BET, HGTV, and Comedy Central.
SKYD · · Neutral Skydance announces the board and advisors for its post-merger combination, a governance/leadership event with no clear financial or operational driver.
PSKY · · Neutral Paramount's board is folded into the combined company's board, but no standalone financial or operational impact on Paramount is stated.
WBD · · Neutral Warner Bros. Discovery is merged into the new entity and its board composition is set, with no separate value driver described.
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Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery close $111-billion merger
The $111-billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed on Tuesday, creating a new Hollywood colossus controlled by David Ellison. The 43-year-old chairman and chief executive, whose small Paramount fended off Netflix and a group of 12 state attorneys general led by California's Rob Bonta, now oversees HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, TBS, Food Network, two traditional Hollywood studios and two major streaming services. Shares of the new company, named Skydance, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, opening around $9.70, about half of Paramount's 52-week high. The company emerged with more than $80 billion in debt used to finance the buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery investors at $31.17 a share, and it expects $70 billion a year in revenue, still trailing the Walt Disney Co.'s $94.4 billion in sales last year. Skydance said it will find $6 billion in cost cuts over three years, primarily from merging technology, integration and procurement as well as marketing costs and real estate rationalization, while the Ellison family will be controlling shareholders alongside longtime Skydance investor RedBird Capital Partners. The transaction included $47 billion of new equity investment led by the Larry Ellison Family, RedBird, sovereign wealth funds and LionTree, priced at $12 a share, with the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributing $24 billion in equity, and debt financing led by Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo.
SKYD · Capital · Positive Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery closed their $111-billion merger, creating the new Skydance with $80B+ debt and $47B new equity.
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