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A federal judge approved Paramount's consent decree settling an antitrust lawsuit brought by 12 states over its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, removing the last major legal obstacle to the $81 billion deal. The merger is expected to close on October 6, and Paramount announced Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will join as co-CEO alongside David Ellison once the deal completes.
A coalition including Free Press, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Committee for the First Amendment filed a court brief arguing that California's settlement with Paramount Skydance over its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery offers the public 'virtually nothing.' The filing asks Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who had earlier found the deal likely to substantially reduce competition, to reject the settlement that California Attorney General Rob Bonta and eleven other states agreed to this week. The League of United Latin American Citizens raised similar objections in a separate filing.
Paramount Skydance is preparing to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, placing CEO David Ellison in control of major entertainment brands including HBO, HBO Max and Paramount+. Both companies have undergone repeated name and platform changes in recent years, from Warner Media to WBD and from Paramount+ rebrands, reflecting ongoing restructuring across the industry.
Several states have agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit that sought to block the combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, removing the last major legal obstacle to the deal. Shares of both companies rose sharply following news of the settlement, as investors now expect the merger to move forward quickly.
Paramount Skydance reached a settlement with state attorneys general who had sued to block its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, avoiding a trial that was scheduled for next spring. As part of the deal, Paramount agreed to boost domestic production, follow certain theatrical release rules, and create a new board to oversee editorial independence at CBS News and CNN. CEO David Ellison told staff the company now expects to close the merger within about two weeks.
Paramount Skydance has reached a settlement that clears the way for its takeover of Warner Bros, ending a prolonged period of negotiation and legal wrangling. The agreement resolves outstanding disputes between the two parties and allows the merger process to move forward.
California and other states that had sued to block Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery reached a settlement allowing the deal to proceed, according to multiple reports. The agreement reportedly relies on behavioral commitments from the companies rather than blocking the merger outright, and comes after four states that initially resisted California's proposed terms dropped their objections over the weekend.
The FCC has approved Paramount Skydance's request to waive federal foreign-ownership limits, allowing indirect foreign ownership to reach 49.5 percent through investments from sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. The funds, totaling roughly $24 billion, are tied to Paramount's pending $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal already cleared by the Justice Department but still facing a lawsuit from several US states.
Larry Ellison has scrapped a 10b5-1 trading plan that would have allowed him to sell up to 50 million Oracle shares, worth about $7.5 billion at current prices. The plan, adopted June 22 and set to expire Oct. 24, had been disclosed in a regulatory filing just a day before its cancellation, and no shares were ever sold under it. Oracle says Ellison has no other plans to divest any of his stock.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison adopted a trading plan on June 22 permitting him to sell as many as 50 million shares, worth roughly $7.5 billion at current prices, through October 24. Even after a full sale, Ellison would retain about 1.1 billion shares and remain Oracle's largest shareholder with over 40% ownership.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker announced they are renaming South Park to 'South America' for its new season, mocking President Trump's pattern of renaming geographic features like the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. The change was unveiled on the show's social media with a doctored sign reading 'South America' instead of 'South Park', shortly after the series won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. The creators also sarcastically thanked parent company Paramount Skydance, referencing its pending $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery.