A federal judge has temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance\u2019s efforts to complete its Warner Bros. Discovery merger, ruling that the proposed merger \u201craises serious questions\u201d about whether the blockbuster $111-billion deal violates U.S. antitrust law.<\/p>\n
District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn, based in Oakland, on Monday granted a temporary restraining order request by a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California Atty. General Rob Bonta, to freeze the deal while the court delves more closely into its impact on markets.<\/p>\n
The order pauses the deal for 14 days. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day,\u201d Bonta said in a statement. \u201cHistory tells the tale of what happens when a few people have great power over markets that are central to Americans\u2019 lives: fewer opportunities for more people, worse products and services for all people. With our lawsuit, we\u2019re fighting for a free and fair market and a thriving film and television industry that serves creatives and audiences alike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn\u2019s order came after a hearing in Oakland on Friday that represented a first salvo between the two sides in the fight over a merger that would dramatically reshape the entertainment industry. <\/p>\n
Two century-old film studios \u2014 with rights to Harry Potter, Batman, \u201cTop Gun,\u201d \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d \u201cThe Big Bang Theory,\u201d \u201cTed Lasso,\u201d and \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d \u2014 would be combined, and HBO and CNN would come under new ownership.<\/p>\n
The ruling was anticipated \u2014 but it nonetheless dealt a blow to tech scion David Ellison\u2019s efforts to quickly finalize his massive acquisition, which has the support of President Trump. Ellison wants to complete the deal by September to avoid a higher payout to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders.<\/p>\n
Because of the case\u2019s expedited status, the judge said she looked closely at only one of the three markets where the plaintiff states allege the merger could bring anticompetitive harms \u2014 wide-release Hollywood films.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaintiffs present compelling evidence that the combined firm resulting from the transaction will possess substantial market share in the wide-release theatrical distribution market,\u201d Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn wrote in her 10-page order.<\/p>\n
If allowed to merge, Paramount-Warner Bros. would control about 27% of the market of films that are initially released into more than 3,000 theaters. <\/p>\n
\u201cOn this combined firm market share alone, the Court is persuaded that it can presume the proposed merger is likely to violate antitrust laws,\u201d the judge wrote.
She said that that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are \u201ctemporarily enjoined and restrained from closing or consummating the transaction or taking any steps, directly or indirectly, to integrate or consolidate their operations pursuant to the transaction.<\/p>\n
The order extends to all officers, attorneys, and \u201cother persons who are in active concert or participation with Defendants,\u201d Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn wrote. <\/p>\n
A Paramount spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n
The deal is far from dead Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe order is likely to be a speed bump,\u201d Benes wrote. \u201cThanks to the company\u2019s symbiotic relationship with Trump, most challenges ahead that could stop the deal will be steamrolled.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge has temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance\u2019s efforts to complete its Warner Bros. Discovery merger, ruling that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":947930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[381724,1582,276,2385,3853,381723,28208,6616,2961,224,5337,9106,43429,8145,15329,6228,16049,22725,381722,381721],"class_list":["post-947929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bad-product","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-day","tag-deal","tag-few-opportunity","tag-few-people","tag-judge","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-market","tag-more-people","tag-order","tag-paramount","tag-service","tag-state-attorney","tag-transaction","tag-warner-bros-discovery-merger","tag-warner-bros-takeover"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116953645173824315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}