• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

Paramount has agreed to delay its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery until as late as June 2027, the company said in court papers filed Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in the Northern District of California.

Martinez-Olguin previously issued a temporary restraining order halting the deal, but that order was set to expire August 17.

Warner Bros. agreed in March to be acquired by Paramount, which is controlled by Trump allies Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison.

The Justice Department approved the deal last month, but a California-led coalition of state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds.

The states argued in their lawsuit that the merger would violate competition laws by leaving the country with just four major film distributors. Among other allegations, the states said a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would control more than 30% of "anticipated blockbusters" -- meaning big-budget films likely to earn more than $100 million in box-office revenue.

The attorneys general also said the merger would leave the combined company in control of more than 50 basic cable channels, giving it more leverage with distributors.

The writers union argued in its separate lawsuit that the merger would harm competition in several markets, including one for writing services for anticipated blockbusters, and one for writing services for 30- and 60-minute television programs.

That group specifically alleged that combining Paramount+ with HBO Max will likely result in fewer television programs.

"A merged service will require less programming to serve the same subscriber base, eliminating the competitive pressure that currently drives volume," the union asserted.

Paramount disputed that the merger will substantially lessen competition. The company raised several arguments, including that it faces competitive pressure from streaming studios like Netflix as well as "smaller players" such as A24.

When Martinez-Olguin temporarily halted the deal, she wrote that the states had raised "serious questions" regarding the merits of their antitrust claim, and that the "balance of equities and public interest" weighed in favor of a short-term pause.

She had scheduled the matter for an August 3 hearing on the request for a longer-term injunction, but the parties agreed to cancel that hearing and instead proceed to trial in the future.

The agreement submitted to Martinez-Olguin Friday calls for a delay until the earlier of June 2027, or until there is a ruling on the merits of the antitrust claims.