The ongoing Paramount/Warner Bros. merger may soon hit a snag due to an incoming lawsuit.
Per Reuters on Friday, California, New York, and other unnamed states have come together to prevent the merger. The suit is said to be filed “in the coming weeks,” so we currently don’t know what specific complaints will be made. However, Hollywood actors, theater owners, and US senators have previously criticized the acquisition for monopoly concerns and its harm to the industry. Paramount’s response, as of earlier this week, was to say anyone against this acquisition had “antisemitic views.”
As Reuters notes, lawsuits don’t always succeed at blocking mergers, but they can impede progress. If Paramount doesn’t lock this down by October, it’s on the hook to pay shareholders a near-$6.9 million daily fee. Not a nice penalty, but analysts think the company can more easily get government approval compared to Netflix. In the past year, Paramount’s been openly trying to appease the Trump administration, often at the cost of angering staff and public that’s caught on to what it’s doing.
According to Reuters, the Department of Justice may reach a decision on Paramount acquiring Warner Bros. “soon,” so we’ll have more on the merger and lawsuit as news emerges.
