A federal judge said on Thursday that Paramount could not close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery until at least Aug. 18, as she considers two lawsuits that seek to block the deal.
The move extended a pause on the deal. On Monday, the judge, Araceli Martínez-Olguín of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, froze the deal for 14 days after a group of states sued to stop the acquisition, citing antitrust concerns. In that ruling, she said she would hold a hearing on Aug. 3 about whether to issue an injunction that would block the deal from closing for the duration of the lawsuit.
But Paramount asked Judge Martínez-Olguín to delay that hearing to later in August and to allow testimony from witnesses. The Writers Guild of America, which filed its own lawsuit against the deal this month, also asked her to consider its request for an injunction at the same time as the states’ request. It has argued that the deal would harm screenwriters.
On Thursday, Judge Martínez-Olguín extended the order delaying the deal by 14 days, through Aug. 17. She also said she was open to delaying the hearing, including past that date, if all sides could agree on a new schedule and if Paramount pledged not to close the deal in the interim.
The lawsuits could disrupt Paramount’s efforts to build a Hollywood giant that includes two movie studios, the streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+ and the television stations CBS and CNN. A delay could be costly: Starting in October, Paramount has agreed to pay $650 million to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders for every quarter the two companies have not closed the deal.
A spokeswoman for California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, who is leading the states’ lawsuit, said his office looked forward to arguing its case and “blocking Paramount’s illegal acquisition of Warner Bros.” A spokeswoman for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
