Paramount Blames 12 State AGs for Delaying $111 Billion WBD Merger as $7 Million Daily Fee Looms
Updated
Updated · Deadline · Aug 14
Paramount Blames 12 State AGs for Delaying $111 Billion WBD Merger as $7 Million Daily Fee Looms
3 articles · Updated · Deadline · Aug 14
Summary
$7 million a day in ticking fees to WBD shareholders starts on October 1 unless Paramount secures a response from the 12 state attorneys general, which CEO David Ellison says are blocking a merger cleared in 68 countries.
Paramount said Mexico has now joined regulators including the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, China and the U.S. Justice Department in approving the deal, and argued it has already offered concessions and remains open to settlement.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office rejected that case, saying the merger would raise costs, cut competition, lower wages, eliminate jobs and reduce film and TV output; it also cited a July temporary restraining order suggesting the states are likely to succeed.
A two-week trial is set for March 2, 2027, leaving the companies in a costly stalemate that Paramount says could add multibillion-dollar penalties on top of roughly $80 billion in day-one debt.