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David Ellison insists his blockbuster media merger is still on track, but a legal standoff with a coalition of state attorneys general is about to flip an abstract delay into a very concrete and very expensive problem.

The entertainment giant reported a notable insider sale as legal challenges surfaced against its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount Skydance has agreed to a deal that could stretch completion of its merger to June 2027. The companies are stuck in limbo until then, given that WBD agreed in principle for the deal.

Warner Bros. Discovery stock Monday hit its lowest point since the company’s merger with Paramount Skydance was reached in February as Wall Street appears to be putting little more than a 50% chance that the deal will get done. Warner Bros. stock dropped 1.8% Monday to $25.28, ending about 18% below the $31-a-share cash offer from Paramount, whose stock also declined Monday. Warner Bros. stock had been trading around $27 in June.

Morningstar analyst views potential $2 billion costs as manageable.

Paramount Skydance has formally agreed to delay its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery until at least June 2027.

Paramount Skydance on Friday said it would delay the deal until as late as June 2027.

Paramount Skydance agreed on Friday to delay its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros.Paramount agreed to delay the deal through June 2027, the company said in a court filing on Friday.

Paramount Skydance agreed to postpone closing its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until five days after a state antitrust case opposing the deal is resolved or until June 2027, when its merger agreement expires.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) agreed to delay its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) until June 2027 after 12 attorneys general sued to block the massive media merger.

The European Union approved Paramount's $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery this week, effectively clearing another regulatory hurdle for a mega merger that could vastly reshape the entertainment and media landscape worldwide. The European Commission — which serves as the EU's antitrust enforcer — said that even with a Paramount-Warner combo, enough competitors would exist across markets like film production and streaming in its 27-nation bloc. To address this, the Commission said Skydance-owned Paramount agreed to end its European Economic Area stake in United International Pictures — a longstanding venture with another major studio, Universal, that Paramount has used to distribute films in theaters outside North America.

CNN Media Analyst Sara Fischer reacts to the decision.

The ruling comes after a coalition of 12 states sued to block the deal, arguing it would harm consumers and the entertainment industry.

Last week, a coalition of 12 attorneys general filed a lawsuit that challenges the $110 billion acquisition, arguing that the deal.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín’s Monday ruling puts the deal on hold for two weeks while she considers a broader antitrust legal challenge brought by a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California AG Rob Bonta.

A 14-day restraining order halts a deal that would combine two of Hollywood's five major film studios and cable programmers

By Jody Godoy and Dawn Chmielewski July 20 (Reuters) - A coalition of states led by California won a pause of Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

AEW CEO Tony Khan explains to Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi why Paramount's move to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery could be a major boost for AEW, and how the combined streaming footprint could put AEW in more homes and expand its live-event business.

A coalition of 12 U. S. states has launched an antitrust challenge against the proposed $110 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros.

New lawsuit joins states' challenge, raising uncertainty around the proposed media merger's closing timeline.

A 12-state antitrust lawsuit threatens to delay Paramount Skydance's $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, exposing both companies' weak balance sheets to costly penalty deadlines.

Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. faces antitrust lawsuits, putting $30B in investment and 100M SF in limbo.

"If Paramount succeeds in buying Warner Bros., the merged firm will be the largest buyer of original film and television programming in the United States, eliminating vigorous competition from a major film and television studio that has operated for more than a century," Writers Guild of America alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Jul. 13—OLYMPIA — Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown said Monday that a proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount would "raise prices, reduce consumer choice, and cost many Americans their jobs" as he announced a lawsuit to block the deal. Brown joined 11 other state attorneys general who allege the proposed merger would reduce competition for licensing basic ...

Led by California, the states argue the deal is anticompetitive, would harm theaters and lead to price increases for TV bundles.

Twelve US states have sued to block Paramount from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery in a $110bn deal. The states argued cinemas and moviegoers could face higher prices if the merger goes ahead, as Paramount and Warner Bros. currently compete for the best release dates and screens at thousands of cinemas across the US. The lawsuit represents a significant obstacle for the deal, which is seen as one of the biggest media mergers in history.

The merger "would extinguish competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflict substantial harm on movie theatres, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide," 12 state attorneys general allege in a complaint filed Monday.

<body><p>STORY: :: California and 11 states are suing to block Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros</p><p>:: Los Angeles, California / July 13, 2026</p><p>:: Rob Bonta, California Attorney General</p><p>"We're here, I'm here to announce a lawsuit that I filed, and that a coalition of 12 states have filed challenging the proposed merger of Paramount, Skydance and Warner Brothers Discovery and asking the court to block the merger from moving forward." // "This $110 billion proposed merger, the largest merger in Hollywood history, would extinguish competition. It would result in higher prices, lower content quality and fewer movies and TV shows." // As our complaint makes clear, this deal is illegal under the Clayton Act. That is a law that has been on the books for over 100 years. It prevents mergers that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly."</p><p>The lawsuit is a serious threat to Paramount CEO David Ellison's bid to transform his company into a major competitor to Netflix and Disney.</p><p>If allowed to move forward with the deal, Paramount would control 27% of the distribution market for films that appear on screens across America, 30% of blockbuster film distribution and 27% of the market for basic cable channels, the states said.</p><p>It will likely take months for a ruling on the states' claims, causing a delay that could rack up hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for Paramount.</p><p>The deal has led to an outcry from actors, writers,&nbsp;and others fearing it will hurt jobs. Theater owners also opposed the deal, worrying the combination of the Warner Bros ​movie studio with Paramount Pictures would result in fewer films.</p><p>Paramount said the lawsuit distorts settled antitrust law and is based on a misrepresentation of competition in the entertainment industry.</p></body>

(Updates with Paramount Skydance's statement in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.) Paramount Skyda

Investing.com -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday led a coalition of 12 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to block Paramount Skydance's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the deal would unlawfully reduce competition across the U.S. film and television industry.