Paramount delays $81 bn Warner Bros. Discovery buyout amid court challenge

Paramount on Friday agreed to delay closing its USD 81 billion buyout of Warner Bros Discovery well into next year, as a judge continues to consider a challenge from 12 states seeking to block the deal altogether.
In a court filing, Paramount said it wouldn't close the merger until either a court ruling is made on the merits of the states' lawsuit or June 1, 2027.

The move arrives just days after US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted a temporary restraining order to freeze the transaction for several weeks, ruling that the states had raised some "serious questions" and a strong case about the merger's potential to "substantially lessen competition."
Paramount called Friday's agreement a "significant win because the result is exactly what we have sought from the outset: a direct path to a trial based on the evidence."
The company, which was bought by Skydance just last year, added that this was the "fastest and clearest way" to prove its merger was good for competition an