Paramount delays Warner Bros. merger amid legal roadblocks
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 58/100
Paramount Skydance agreed to delay its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery for up to 10 months on Friday as the court examines the merger’s legality in the face of a lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Paramount said it would halt the merger until either the remedy of its legal battle with the state attorneys general who sued to block the merger or June 1, 2027, whichever date comes sooner. Paramount and the plaintiff attorneys general in the case agreed the merger “shall not close, be consummated, or otherwise be completed” until that time, and Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin, who is presiding over the case, signed off on the agreement Friday.
The agreement comes after Martinez-Olguin granted a temporary restraining order on Monday, halting the merger until an Aug. 3 hearing on the matter. Bonta filed the lawsuit on July 13, arguing that the $110 billion merger would “extinguish competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflict substantial harm on movie theatres, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide.” The Friday agreement also canceled the Aug. 3 hearing date for the plaintiff’s preliminary injunction.
Paramount celebrated the agreement in a statement released Friday.
“Today’s agreement is a significant win because the result is exactly what we have sought from the outset: a direct path to a trial based on the evidence. This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the “plaintiffs’ market definitions bear no relationship to the realities of today’s marketplace and cannot withstand scrutiny,” adding that they “look forward to proving our case at trial.”
Paramount had initially aimed to close the transaction by September. If the June 1, 2027, date holds, that would mean a delay of nine to ten months that could increase the price of the merger.
Bonta also cheered the agreement as “great news.”
“Today’s agreement is great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy. We are eager to continue to make our case in court and celebrate another tremendous win in our effort to ensure this unlawful merger never sees the light of day,” Bonta said in a statement.
EUROPEAN UNION APPROVES $81 BILLION PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. DEAL
The news of the agreement comes just two days after antitrust regulators from the European Union approved the deal.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice had already approved the deal before California’s lawsuit halted its progress in the United States.
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