The Paramount-Warner Bros. Clock Is Ticking: What's Next for the Megamerger Amid Antitrust Battle With States?

A federal judge in San Francisco extended a temporary restraining order blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger through Aug. 17, Variety reported. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted the extension Thursday after 12 Democratic state attorneys general, led by California, filed a legal challenge on July 13 alleging the $111 billion deal violates antitrust laws. The states are seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the merger until a trial is held. The judge set an Aug. 3 hearing on the injunction request, though Paramount is pushing to postpone that date to the week of Aug. 17 or 24. In her ruling, Martinez-Olguin wrote that the states' showing demonstrates serious questions going to the merits remain, weighing in favor of preliminary injunctive relief. She added that Paramount has acknowledged it will not be harmed by the delay until the end of September. The Justice Department cleared the transaction in June and the EU approved it with minor concessions. Paramount called the states' lawsuit one of the weakest merger challenges in modern antitrust history and said it will vigorously defend the transaction. The merger agreement includes a ticking fee provision that would pay WBD shareholders about $7 million per day if the deal does not close by Sept. 30. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state would consider a settlement but only with structural remedies, not behavioral ones. Paramount has not signaled what concessions it might offer.