Paramount Weighs CNN Sale to Save $110 Billion WBD Deal
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 12
Paramount Weighs CNN Sale to Save $110 Billion WBD Deal
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 12
Summary
Selling CNN is now "on the table," Paramount's chief legal officer said, marking the clearest sign yet the company may divest a flagship asset to settle a 12-state antitrust suit.
The concession comes as Paramount also discussed a CNN editorial board and other independence safeguards, but California Attorney General Rob Bonta has dismissed such pledges as insufficient.
September 30 is the pressure point: if no settlement is reached, David Ellison plans to start moving operations out of California on October 1 and Paramount will owe WBD shareholders $7 million a day until closing.
The states argue the merger would give the combined company roughly one-third of theatrical film distribution and one-third of basic cable channels, turning the $110 billion tie-up into a broader political and regulatory fight.
That fight widened Wednesday when Rep. Jamie Raskin accused Ellison of colluding with President Trump, while Ellison argued critics are trying to block his ownership of CNN rather than protect competition.