Paramount Skydance’s top antitrust attorney told a judge that David Ellison’s company would voluntarily delay its proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery at least until mid-August amid a legal challenge brought by 12 state attorneys general, including Massachusetts.
The states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, have asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would prevent Paramount from finalizing its deal as the court battle ramps up.
Paramount made the pledge in hopes of avoiding such a ruling that would tie its hands — and give the states an early win in the litigation.
Federal District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said she would decide by Wednesday whether to issue a restraining order.
US oil firms seek new Gulf trade routes
U.S. companies signed roughly $60 billion in agreements and partnerships with the Iraqi government, including deals intended to create alternative routes for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The deals, signed Friday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also involved other industries, including healthcare, communications and infrastructure.
It’s not clear when the oil deals will be able to create viable alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil flows. Goldman Sachs estimates that pipelines in just one country take at least two and a half years to build, and these pipelines would travel through two or more nations.
Iran has sought to close the Strait repeatedly since the U.S.-Iran war began Feb. 28, causing sharp gyrations in oil and gas prices.