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A federal judge has paused the blockbuster $110B media deal between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery after 12 state attorneys general brought an antitrust lawsuit last week.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín found that the attorneys general “raised serious questions about the anticompetitive nature of the deal,” according to reporting in The Washington Post.
The judge granted the states’ request for a temporary restraining order that will pause the merger for 14 days.
“If the merger closes, it would combine the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios, the TV giants CNN and CBS, and streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+,” the report said, adding, “The deal would also put David Ellison — son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, an ally of President Donald Trump — in charge of one of the most powerful companies in American media.”
Shortly after the suit was filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta on behalf of the 12-state coalition, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported:
Now, Paramount has been bracing for this potential lawsuit. So it’s been pointing out in recent statements that regulators in other markets all around the world have already blessed this deal…Paramount said, quote, “This transaction will create a stronger challenger to dominant global streaming and technology platforms. It will expand consumer choice, it will increase investment in premium content and theatrical distribution and create more opportunities for creators and workers.” So, you can tell Paramount is going to contest this lawsuit vigorously. It has already retained a Supreme Court litigator in case it gets to that point. Paramount says it needs to be able to get bigger to compete with big tech companies. But now…a judge will have to weigh in and start to assess the situation.
Bonta later released a statement, saying this merger would “Lead to higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and TV, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.”
This is a breaking story and has been updated.
The post JUST IN: Judge Pauses Paramount Mega Merger After Democratic AGs Sue first appeared on Mediaite.
