Overview
- The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced a full, unconditional sign‑off of Paramount Skydance’s roughly $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, meaning no divestitures or behavioral conditions were imposed.
- Reporting says career DOJ antitrust lawyers who spent months on the probe had been leaning toward recommending a lawsuit and were surprised when senior leadership closed the investigation, raising questions about the review process and political optics.
- State attorneys general led by California’s Rob Bonta and a coalition including New York are preparing investigations or potential lawsuits that could seek injunctions to block the merger despite the federal clearance.
- European Commission and U.K. competition authorities have opened formal merger and foreign‑subsidies reviews with early decision windows in July and August, and the FCC is separately examining the deal’s significant foreign funding ties.
- Paramount disclosed about $24 billion in pledged Gulf sovereign funding and has a Sept. 30 closing target that would trigger quarterly ticking fees if delayed and a $7 billion termination fee if the deal fails, while Hollywood workers warn the merger’s promised $6 billion in savings could lead to job cuts and fewer production opportunities.