The California’s attorney general’s office announced a settlement Monday resolving a 12-state legal challenge to Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a key hurdle for the transaction.
\n\nThe merger would join together two historic film studios (Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures), two popular streaming platforms (Paramount+ and HBO Max) and two news organizations (CBS News and CNN) under the leadership of 43-year-old mogul David Ellison.
\n\nThe states opposing the deal, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, sued to block the merger on July 13, arguing in a 38-page complaint that it would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood.
\n\nParamount agreed to freeze the merger until either the antitrust challenge was resolved or June 1, 2027 — whichever came first. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who is presiding over the case, had scheduled an antitrust trial for early March.
\n\nThe terms of the settlement include a pledge by the company to release a minimum number of films per year or pay a fee for missing that target. Paramount is also pledging to establish independent editorial boards overseeing the operations of CNN and CBS News.
\n\nBonta also said that…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business