After being halted earlier this year, Paramount has announced that it will move forward with its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In July, the company announced that it the deal would not proceed until June 2027 due to an antitrust lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
This Monday saw Paramount settle the lawsuit with Bonta and other state attorneys.
“We are grateful to Attorney General Bonta and his fellow AGs, as well as the WGA, for engaging in good faith to find a path forward to a resolution that serves all parties, and to Governor Newsom for his support throughout this process,” Paramount CEO David Ellison shared in a statement. “Our shared aim was an outcome that best serves consumers, workers and — most importantly — the creative community so vital to the art of visual storytelling.”
In a press conference on Monday, Bonta stated that “the settlement is not a vote of support for the merger.”
“It’s not a blessing of the broader merger,” clarified Bonta. “Broadly speaking, we believe further consolidation in markets that are central to American economic life doesn’t serve the American economy, consumers, or competition well.”
