Judge Delays Ruling on $111 Billion Paramount-WBD Deal as 12 States Seek Freeze
Updated
Updated · Fox Business · Jul 17
Judge Delays Ruling on $111 Billion Paramount-WBD Deal as 12 States Seek Freeze
3 articles · Updated · Fox Business · Jul 17
Summary
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said she will rule by July 22 on California’s request for a temporary restraining order blocking Paramount’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general argue the merger would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act by reducing competition, raising prices and cutting content quality.
Paramount told the court the combination would strengthen its ability to compete with Netflix and warned that further delay would trigger costly ticking fees as the planned third-quarter closing approaches.
The state challenge comes even after the Justice Department closed an eight-month antitrust review last week, saying the deal was unlikely to harm competition or consumers.
The hearing followed the judge’s rejection of separate consumer efforts to block the merger, leaving the states’ case as the main immediate obstacle to David Ellison’s expansion in Hollywood.