David Ellison's Paramount Skydance is in “advanced talks†with California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle the 12-state antitrust suit that's holding up its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing anonymous sources.
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment. A rep for Bonta's office said, “Potential settlement talks are confidential. We cannot confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring or their alleged substance.â€
Per the Journal's report, the talks are “ongoing and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached.†Paramount and the California AG have “discussed compromises including Paramount agreeing to operate the two companies' movie studios separately for a period rather than immediately combining them,†according to the WSJ article.
However, Bonta has previously said that a temporary agreement by Paramount to run its studio operations separately from WB would not be an acceptable term for dropping the antitrust lawsuit.
A judge has scheduled a trial in the matter for March 2027. Paramount had requested that the 12 states — and the Writers Guild of America — posted a $1.88 billion bond to cover its potential losses from a “ticking fee†payable to WBD shareholders (as of Oct. 1) if Paramount ends up prevailing in court. A hearing on the bond motion is set for Sept. 24.
Ellison's $111 billion pending deal for Warner Bros. Discovery is being bankrolled in part by his mega-billionaire father, Larry Ellison, as well as the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. On Thursday, the FCC approved Paramount's petition to allow 49.5% of its equity to be held by foreign entities once the Warner Bros. Discovery deal is complete.
