US States Move To Block Paramount Skydance's $110-Bn Warner Bros Acquisition

California, New York and other US states are preparing a lawsuit to block Paramount Skydance's $110-billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, according to a Reuters report. The lawsuit is expected to be filed in the coming weeks, though it was not immediately clear which other states would join.

The move would mark the boldest step yet by US states in antitrust enforcement. California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday criticised what he called President Donald Trump's "abdication" of federal antitrust agencies, which have greater resources than state governments, as per the report.

Bonta, a Democrat, has led the charge among states concerned about the deal, having promised a probe soon after Paramount announced its acquisition of Warner Bros. On Friday, a spokesperson for Bonta's office said California's investigation remains active.

WBD Acquisition Race

Paramount Skydance is the merged entity formed after David Ellison acquired Paramount — the media conglomerate that owns CBS, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, and MTV — and combined it with his production company Skydance Media in an $8-billion deal. David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who financed the Paramount transaction.

The acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery came after months of competing bids.

Warner Bros had initially signed an $83-billion agreement with streaming giant Netflix. However, Paramount Skydance continued to raise its offer, eventually proposing $31 per share and valuing the entire company at around $111 billion including debt.

Netflix subsequently withdrew from the race, clearing the way for Paramount Skydance to take control of WBD in February.

The US Department of Justice is expected to reach a decision on the deal soon, according to the Reuters report. The DOJ sent subpoenas in late March seeking information on how the merger would affect studio output, content rights, streaming competition, and movie theatres.

Analysts told Reuters that Paramount's political connections and other factors should give it an easier path to federal regulatory clearance.

Larry Ellison has cultivated ties with President Trump, and an earlier hostile all-cash bid to acquire WBD from December 2025 involved investor Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, among other investors.

A Paramount spokesperson told Reuters that the deal would bring greater competition, and that opposing it "means giving entrenched incumbents like Netflix an advantage they do not deserve."

The spokesperson added that the company would "continue to fight against any attempt to derail a deal that plainly benefits consumers, creators, and the industry as a whole."

Not all lawsuits seeking to block mergers succeed, but they can delay the closing of deals by months if a judge issues an order pausing the merger while the case is heard.

Paramount has agreed to pay shareholders a fee starting in October if the deal has not closed by then, amounting to around $6.9 million per day. It has pledged to maintain both studios and produce a minimum of 30 theatrical films annually after the deal closes.