Paramount’s $5.25 Billion 10-Year Bonds Carry a Yield Near 7.9% as Treasury Rates Jump
Paramount Skydance Corp. completed a $30 billion bond financing on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, to help pay for its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., MarketWatch reported.
The sale closed during a selloff in long-dated Treasurys that has pushed benchmark yields to their highest levels since 2002.
Reporter Joy Wiltermuth wrote that the move in yields translates into higher borrowing costs for families, businesses and the U.S. government.
What Paramount Paid to Borrow
Paramount priced $5.25 billion of 10-year investment-grade bonds, a category meant for borrowers seen as lower default risks. The bonds were set at 262.5 basis points above the benchmark Treasury rate, MarketWatch reported.
A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point, so the spread equals 2.625 percentage points.
The 10-year Treasury yield reached 5.3% on Wednesday. Added to the spread, that puts the yield on Paramount's bonds at roughly 7.925%.
For comparison, new 30-year fixed mortgages carried a rate of about 7.5%, according to Mortgage News Daily. MarketWatch said elevated mortgage rates have kept the housing market largely stalled.
Oil and Inflation Fears Push Yields Higher
MarketWatch said higher oil prices, as the Iran war enters its eighth month, have helped lift Treasury yields. Investors want more compensation to offset inflation risks, the outlet reported.
The 10-year yield now sits near multiyear highs, and it has been a recurring pressure point for large borrowers. Other heavy debt issuers have faced the same climb, as the recent surge in 10-year Treasury yields has shown.
Paramount shares rose 3.05% on Wednesday, while Warner Bros. Discovery shares gained roughly 0.3%, according to MarketWatch's quote data.
How Investors Are Reading the Sale
Matt Brill, an Invesco portfolio manager quoted by MarketWatch, said he expects the supply of new corporate bonds to fall off in the near term unless someone has to borrow.
He said investors across the market are working through the numbers to gauge what the higher rates will mean for corporate borrowers.
Brill's comments point to Paramount's deal as the main reference for how the market is pricing new debt right now. Whether other companies follow with large offerings will depend on who needs to raise money at these yields.