A California judge on Wednesday formally approved Paramount Skydance’s settlement with California and other states, the final hurdle required for it to close its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Judge clears way for Paramount to acquire Warner Bros.
The seismic merger will bring together the likes of CBS News and CNN, HBO Max and Paramount+, and storied film studios Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures.
Shortly after the judge’s approval, David Ellison, the CEO and controlling shareholder of Paramount Skydance, announced that Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz would become co-CEO of the combined media giant.
Kreiz will join the company Oct. 5, and the companies said in a statement the deal “is expected to close on October 6.”
“As Chairman & CEO, Ellison will lead all strategy, creative and technology while Kreiz, as Co-CEO will oversee the Company’s day-to-day operations and integration of the combined businesses,” the statement said.
Several outlets also reported this week that Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland is departing the studio and Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief, will take on a new role running the combined streaming operations.
After the deal was approved by the U.S. Justice Department, the European Commission and dozens of other countries worldwide, it was held back by a lawsuit led by California’s Democratic attorney general, Rob Bonta.
Bonta and other state attorneys general worried that the deal, if completed, would reduce competition and potentially imperil the journalistic independence of CNN.
Paramount Skydance, led by Ellison, reached a deal with the states on Sept. 21, which will require the combined company to release at least 30 films a year and set up an editorial board to oversee both CNN and CBS News.
Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, is a close ally of President Donald Trump’s. He is personally backing the deal with tens of billions of dollars of his own fortune.
After acquiring Paramount, David Ellison appointed former New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss to run CBS News. She has clashed with longtime correspondents and faced accusations of meddling with their editorial independence.
The merged company pledged to invest more than $1 billion in U.S. film production and worker training.
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín’s approval comes just hours before a so-called ticking fee kicks in for Paramount Skydance.
In order to build confidence in the merger plan earlier this year, Paramount agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders 25 cents per share each quarter if the transaction did not close by Sept. 30. That penalty would be worth more than $600 million every three months.
“The parties reached their agreement following highly contested, however brief, litigation, and they reached their agreement following what they report to have been several rounds of in-depth negotiations,” Martínez-Olguín wrote in the order.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice said Wednesday that they are “pleased the court has approved our settlement.”
“Our settlement with Paramount resolves our antitrust concerns in every market we brought in our case, protects competition and consumer choice, and centers the needs, concerns, and futures of California workers,” the spokesperson said.
Some groups that opposed the merger, such as the Block the Merger coalition, urged in an amicus brief that the deal between the companies and states be rejected.
The group criticized the state attorneys general for what it called an “about-face” after suing to stop the deal. “The brief argues that small business owners and independent contractors will not receive the same handouts that members of major unions will if the consent decree is not upheld,” the group said.
“As for the so-called remedies the settlement offers, they do nothing to protect fair competition,” the group added.
Shares of both Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery closed near their highest levels of the day following the news. Paramount shares have been beaten down by more than 20% since the start of the year as the merger remained in limbo.
