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Paramount on Friday agreed to delay closing its $81 billion US buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery well into next year, as a judge continues to consider a challenge from 12 states seeking to block the deal altogether.
In a court filing, Paramount said it wouldn’t close the merger until either June 1, 2027, or whenever a court ruling is made on the merits of the states’ lawsuit.
The move comes just days after U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted a temporary restraining order to freeze the transaction for several weeks, ruling that the states had raised some “serious questions” and a strong case about the merger’s potential to “substantially lessen competition.”
Paramount called Friday’s agreement 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.”
The company, which was bought by Skydance just last year, added that this was the “fastest and clearest way” to prove its merger was good for competition and the wider industry.
Just days after Netflix seemingly won a bidding war to take over Warner Bros.-Discovery, Paramount Skydance has launched its own hostile takeover bid worth $108.4 billion US.
Twelve states, led by California, sued to block Paramount’s pending buyout of Warner last month — alleging that such a merger would instead “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly moviegoers and cable customers.
“From the workers and artists who bring stories to life, to the families who buy tickets at the box office, Paramount’s illegal takeover of Warner Bros. is a bad deal for all those who count on a competitive entertainment industry,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is among those suing to block the merger, said Friday.
She called the agreement to halt the deal a “critical victory.”
A Warner Bros.-Paramount merger would bring together two of the five last legacy studios in Hollywood — as well as host of TV networks, titles filling streaming libraries and news operations.
That would include Warner Bros.’ HBO Max. Crave, the Bell Media-owned streamer currently holds exclusive rights to HBO in Canada.
In statements to Broadcast Dialogue and The Hollywood Reporter in March, Bell Media said its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery would see HBO and HBO Max programming on Crave “for the foreseeable future.”
