I assumed it wasn't Paradox... Or it woulda already had sub-forum on paradox message boards.
Taleworlds for sure just had a limited deal with Paradox, cuz they developed the game themselves, already had a successful product and didn't need much publisher money (maybe some finanacing for Warband development). Publisher just got it into expanded distribution channels.
Now in 2012-2013 a publisher deal is even less important. Unless M&B2 is a total mess, it's guaranteed to be a huge hit. They don't need publisher money, they don't need publisher promotions, they can negotiate their own (lucrative) digital distribution deals with steam, origin, amazon, impulse, d2d, etc. Box distribution negotiated locally where applicable, and pay promotional costs out of pocket (likely don't need much, since the game has a huge following).