Paramount Skydance completed its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery today, after a last-ditch effort to block the deal was rejected by Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. The post-merger company is called Skydance, taking the name of a firm that Paramount bought in a separate deal last year. The new Skydance combines two of the largest movie studios, streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, CBS, CNN, and a portfolio of live sports including CBS Sports and TNT Sports.
The merger was delayed by a lawsuit filed by California and 11 other states. In July, US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in the Northern District of California ruled that the combination would likely reduce competition substantially and violate antitrust laws. California settled the lawsuit last month, and the other states involved went along with the compromise.
Martínez-Olguín approved the settlement on September 30, saying the deal represents a reasonable resolution. The settlement addresses complaints about film distribution and basic cable licensing. Objections based on hopes that the consent decree would reach farther do not rise to the level of legal violations upon which the Court can reject the negotiated resolution.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing