Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. could soon face opposition from U.S. States.
As reported by Reuters, California, New York, and other unnamed states are preparing to file a lawsuit to block the merger. Sources say the lawsuit would be filed “in the coming weeks.”
The lawsuit’s specific complaints are unknown at this time, though they could align with Hollywood and US senators‘ prior criticisms of the merger, which include antitrust concerns and concerns about the merger’s harmful impact on the increasingly fragile film and TV industry.
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Even if the lawsuit doesn’t succeed in blocking the merger entirely, it could still significantly delay the deal. The consequences of a delay wouldn’t be pretty for Paramount. If the deal isn’t closed by October, the company will have to pay shareholders a daily fee of around $6.9 million.
However, Paramount has been laying the political groundwork for a smoother journey to regulatory clearance. As Reuters notes, Paramount CEO David Ellison’s father, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, has ties to President Donald Trump. David Ellison has also been taking steps to appease the Trump administration since the Paramount-Skydance merger, resulting in internal conflict at Paramount, as seen most recently in CBS’s firing of 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.
