Paramount will put the Warner Bros. acquisition on hold until June 2027
26 July 02:07
The Hollywood film studio Paramount Skydance has agreed to put its deal to acquire rival Warner Bros. Discovery on hold until June 1, 2027. By that time, a federal judge is expected to rule on an antitrust lawsuit filed in mid-July by 12 states, including California and New York. This was reported by the Associated Press, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
In a statement submitted to the court, Paramount said it would not move forward with the acquisition of Warner Bros. until early summer of next year, unless the judge rules on the case sooner. The film studio also reached an agreement with the plaintiffs to cancel the hearing scheduled for August 3 regarding the two-week injunction against closing the deal, which was imposed on July 20 by Federal Judge Araceli Martinez-Olgin. She explained her decision by stating that the plaintiffs had raised “serious issues” and presented compelling evidence that the merger could lead to a “substantial restriction of competition.”
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Notably, both sides—representatives of Paramount and the states—called the postponement a wise decision. At the same time, as the AP notes, for the film studio, this means at least an increase in the deal’s price: Paramount had previously committed to paying Warner Bros. shareholders additional compensation of approximately $7 million per day if the purchase was not completed by September 30. And given Warner Bros.’ multibillion-dollar debt, the total cost of the deal could reach nearly $111 billion.
The sale of Warner Bros. has been underway for nearly a year
Rumors of an impending sale of Warner Bros. have been circulating in the media since at least the fall of 2025. Paramount and the streaming service Netflix were the main contenders for the deal. In December 2025, Netflix announced that it had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. to acquire the company for $82.7 billion. But by the end of February, Netflix announced that it was no longer pursuing the acquisition of the film studio. It was reported at the time that Paramount had made a more favorable offer to Warner Bros. management.
The Political Context Surrounding the Warner Bros. Deal
The potential acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount could have political implications, as Paramount has been owned since 2025 by the family of billionaire Larry Ellison, who is said to be close to U.S. President Donald Trump. Ellison himself is the founder of the technology corporation Oracle, one of the key players in the database and cloud technology market and a major contractor for the U.S. government. In particular, Oracle provides critical IT infrastructure to the Pentagon, and Ellison has repeatedly spoken out publicly in support of the current U.S. president and donated money to his election campaign.
If Paramount acquires Warner Bros., the company—which already owns the CBS television network—will also gain control of CNN, which Trump has repeatedly accused of spreading fake news about him and his administration.
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