The Strategist

Court halts merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery for two weeks



07/21/2026 - 03:19



U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland, California, has directed Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to pause the finalization of their merger for 14 days, according to Bloomberg.



Fabio Mori a.k.a BUDA
Fabio Mori a.k.a BUDA
The businesses anticipated finalizing the agreement on July 22.

California and 11 other states initiated a lawsuit a week ago to prevent the deal, arguing it would negatively affect competition in the film distribution and cable TV content licensing sectors.

At the end of February, Paramount and WBD reached an agreement on the deal, which assessed the latter's value at $81 billion ($110 billion considering debt).

WBD possesses, among other assets, the Warner Bros. movie studio, the HBO TV channel, and the HBO Max streaming platform, in addition to various entertainment, sports, and news networks, including CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery.

source: bloomberg.com