Paramount Agrees to Delay Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Until 2027

Under the agreement, which still requires approval from Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, Paramount will not take any steps to integrate or consolidate operations until June 1, 2027, or five days after the court decides whether the Warner Bros. acquisition violates antitrust law. This extends the previous two-week pause granted on July 20. A previously scheduled hearing on August 3 has been canceled, and the 12 states as well as both branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have withdrawn their requests for injunctions. All three parties are expected to propose new trial schedules for their separate cases by July 31.

Paramount beat out Netflix to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery in February, valuing the historic studio at around $111 billion, or $31 per share. The company has faced few obstacles to completing the merger so far. The US Department of Justice approved the deal in June, and the European Commission gave its conditional approval earlier this week—contingent on Paramount exiting a European distribution deal with Universal. Opposition from states and one of Hollywood's biggest unions have been the only sticking points, and now they could prove to be a larger annoyance than Paramount expected. Delaying the deal past the end of September will cost Paramount $0.25 per share per quarter, or approximately $7 million per day, but the company claims going to trial works in its favor. "This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators," the company told The New York Times.