Paramount, 12 State Attorneys General Respond to Sen. Booker's Concerns About Settlement
The companies and 12 attorneys general call the antitrust deal a reasonable compromise after Booker said it fails to address the merger’s core competitive concerns.
- On Monday, Paramount and 12 state attorneys general filed a brief defending their $110 billion merger settlement with Warner Bros. Discovery, urging the court to approve the deal without further independent review.
- New Jersey Senator Cory Booker objected to the settlement last Thursday, arguing the terms do not go far enough to remedy anticompetitive harms and urging the judge to conduct an "independent public-interest review."
- In separate filings, the parties argued the agreement was "vigorously negotiated at arm's length" and has "teeth," noting the Tunney Act does not apply to state-negotiated settlements.
- Oakland-Based District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin has not yet ruled on the settlement, leaving the merger in legal limbo as a $7 million ticking fee to shareholders activates on October 1.
- Parties tentatively expect the merger to close on October 5, at which time Paramount will move its Class B stock listing from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Paramount, 12 state attorneys general respond to Sen. Booker's concerns about settlement
(KYMA) - Paramount Skydance and 12 state attorneys general responded to Sen. Cory Booker's concerns regarding the settlement over the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). In a court document filed Monday, they answered several questions posed by Sen. Booker in his letter, with one of them being theatrical output. "In 2025, Defendants collectively released 19 films, and in 2026, Defendants combined havereleased or anticipate …
An Editorial Board Will Not Save CNN, but a Return to Reporting Might
In a matter of weeks Paramount Skydance is expected to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and, with it, to place CBS News and CNN under a single corporate roof, at which point David Ellison will preside over the largest television news combination in the country. Twelve state attorneys general, having spent months threatening to unwind the merger on the theory that one owner of two newsrooms was itself a threat to the republic, sett…
Rob Bonta Denies Being Pressured Into Paramount Settlement
Attorney General Rob Bonta is defending his decision to settle with Paramount and says he wasn’t pressured by California politicians to make a deal before going to trial. Critics quickly began speaking out after Bonta, who led the 12 states that filed an antitrust lawsuit against Paramount, settled with the company. The states and Paramount […]
Los Angeles Times
BizTocParamount, states reject Booker's call for deeper review of merger deal
Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and attorneys general from 12 states are pushing back against Sen. Cory Booker's questions about how their antitrust settlement came about and whether its terms go far enough.
Paramount, States Urge Court To Approve Merger Deal
State enforcers and Paramount Skydance responded Monday to several questions raised by a lawmaker over a settlement ending the states' challenge of Paramount's deal for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., telling a California federal court there's no need for a full-blown review.
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