Media and Entertainment

On February 27, 2026, Paramount Skydance Corporation (“Paramount”) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. ("WBD") announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount will pay $31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD. The transaction values WBD at an enterprise value of $110 billion, and has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Cravath is representing Paramount in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented The Walt Disney Company in connection with its $4 billion registered notes offering. The Walt Disney Company is a diversified worldwide entertainment company. The transaction closed on February 12, 2026.

On January 30, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted with prejudice Cravath client Elsevier B.V.’s (“Elsevier”) motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit alleging an international conspiracy to fix prices and suppress competition in peer‑reviewed scholarly journal publishing.

Cravath represented the initial purchasers in connection with the $1 billion 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior notes offering of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Canada's Wonderland Company and Millennium Operations LLC. Six Flags is North America’s largest regional amusement‑resort operator with 26 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across 16 states in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The transaction closed on January 14, 2026.

On December 18, 2025, WildBrain Ltd. (“WildBrain”) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC (“Peanuts”), the holding entity for the Peanuts IP, to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (together, “Sony”) for C$630 million cash. The ownership of rights to the Peanuts brand and the management of its business are handled by Peanuts Worldwide LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Peanuts. The family of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, retain their 20% stake in the brand. Cravath is representing the family of Charles M. Schulz in connection with the transaction.

On March 4, 2026, Bloomberg featured Cravath partner Faiza J. Saeed as a top dealmaker of 2025, with her advice on M&A deals totaling roughly $90 billion over that period making her their single highest ranked woman lawyer. The article highlighted her representation of the Paramount Special Committee in Paramount’s $28 billion merger with Skydance, of Wiz in its $32 billion acquisition by Google, of Disney in its successful proxy fight against Trian, and in 2026, of Paramount in its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

On February 11, 2026, Cravath was featured by Law360 as a “Competition Practice Group of the Year” in recognition of the Firm’s work on high‑stakes antitrust litigation and merger clearance. The profile highlighted the Firm’s trial victory for American Express, in which a jury unanimously found the company not liable for antitrust claims in a class action suit, and the successful dismissal of more than 50 lawsuits in MDL proceedings for Louis Dreyfus Co. The profile also recognized Cravath’s work for Epic Games, which includes securing a nationwide permanent injunction against Google after a trial victory that was later affirmed on appeal, and its representation of a Special Committee of Paramount Global’s board of directors in the company’s $28 billion merger with Skydance Media.

On February 20, 2026, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 8 Cravath partners in its annual list of the “500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers.” The list, assembled based on research and vetting by peers, recognizes lawyers who “are at the center of it all, protecting brands, advising on ownership rights and investments, and heading off legal and reputational risk for globally recognized individuals.”

On February 12, 2026, Cravath partners D. Scott Bennett, Elad Roisman, Nicholas A. Dorsey and Sasha Rosenthal‑Larrea were profiled in Lawdragon’s “Lawyer Limelight” series in connection with the Firm’s work for “companies at the forefront of innovation in digital assets, AI, fintech, biotech, media and emerging technologies.”

On January 27, 2026, Cravath published the first edition of its Artificial Intelligence Developments Newsletter, which includes a high‑level review of activity across technical, regulatory, legal, and market areas of AI in the last three months.