Paramount and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are in advanced talks about a potential settlement to the latter’s lawsuit seeking to block the company’s pending $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Bonta, who is suing alongside 11 other state AGs, previously said he’s open to reaching an out of court settlement, but has called on the David Ellison-led media giant to offer structural remedies, such as divestments, rather than behavioral remedies, like its pledge to release 30 films in theaters per year.
The Journal reports that compromises under discussion include agreeing to operate the two companies’ movie studios separately for a period of time rather than immediately combining them. The talks are ongoing and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached.
“Potential settlement talks are confidential,” a spokesperson for Bonta’s office told TheWrap. “We cannot confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring or their alleged substance.”
Representatives for Paramount declined to comment.
The advanced discussions come after Bonta previously canceled settlment talks with Paramount in August after accusing the media giant of leaking the details of the negotiations, which the company has denied.
When asked about what a potential structural remedy could look like in an interview at the time, Bonta told TheWrap he’d be open to a carve out of a “significant” portion of the combined company’s 50 basic cable channels, but declined to elaborate on specifics.
A judge has since ordered the two sides to hold a mandatory, two-day settlement conference on Oct. 14 and 15 to try to find an out of court resolution. Though the meeting is standard course as part of the legal proceeding, it does not guarantee that a settlement will be reached.
Among those who have publicly called for a settlement include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic nominee in California’s gubernatorial race Xavier Becerra, as well as the Directors’ Guild of America and IATSE.
Cinemark and the CEOs of AMC Theaters and Regal have came out in support of the merger, as has Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. Meanwhile, over 5,000 Hollywood voices, including prominent names like Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo and hundreds of other A-listers, penned a letter opposing the merger. Also speaking out against the merger was SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s Teamsters union.
A 12-day antitrust trial over the merger is slated to begin in March. Paramount has agreed to delay the closing of the WBD merger until five days after the outcome of a trial, or June 1, 2027, whichever is earliest.
In addition to publicly calling for a settlement, Paramount CEO David Ellison has also threatened to begin the process of moving the company’s operations out of California if a deal can’t be reached ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline, when it will start accruing a $7 million per day ticking fee until the deal’s closing.
If Ellison follows through on that threat, insiders previously told TheWrap that Paramount would likely move to Nashville or Atlanta. Texas officials have also thrown their hat in the ring in an effort to lure Paramount to the Lone Star State.
Paramount has also requested that the states and WGA post a $1.9 billion bond to cover the ticking fee and other financing costs during the delay. A judge will make a decision on whether to impose the bond during a hearing on Sept. 24.
If the deal does not close at all due to regulatory matters, Paramount is on the hook to pay WBD a $7 billion termination fee. The outside date for the merger to close is June 4, 2027.
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