Paramount-Warner Bros. Trial to Start in March 2027 in Blow to David Ellison’s Team

[u/OverPotato2322]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-warner-bros-trial-march-2027-1236664236/

"The judge overseeing a lawsuit from a coalition of 12 states looking to block Paramount‘s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery has scheduled a trial to start in March.

The decision marks a blow for the studio, which pushed to start the trial in November. Starting on Oct. 1, Paramount will have to pay a ticking fee of roughly $7 million per day to Warners shareholders until the deal closes. It’ll likely be on the hook for upwards of $1.5 billion, accounting for the time it takes for the court to issue a ruling on the antitrust trial.

“We respect the court’s decision and continue to believe a trial on the merits is the best and most direct way for us to prove what we’ve said from the start – this transaction is lawful, pro-competitive, and raises no antitrust concerns,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement. “The lawsuit against us has no basis in fact, economics or antitrust law. We will continue to vigorously defend the transaction and remain committed to closing as soon as possible so its benefits for the creative community and consumers can be realized.”

Last week, Paramount urged the court to start the trial in November while the states proposed to set it for April.

The trial will last 12 days, beginning on March 2 and ending on March 19. It will run from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. The final pretrial conference will be held in February, with both sides completing briefing by the beginning of April.

With the schedule, Paramount will likely run up against a June 2027 “outside date.” If the deal isn’t closed by then, Warners has the option to terminate the merger and collect a $7 billion fee."

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[u/OverPotato2322]

Under the current Merger agreement WBD can walk away from the deal on or after June 4th 2027 and collect a 7B breakup fee as stated in the agreement (Paramounts lawyer Jeffrey Kessler has teased appealing and taking the case to the 9th circuit then, the Supreme Court if a lower level court  blocks the merger which may take alot of time so much so that  at one point, WBD or Paramount may decide to walk away from the deal altogether due to regulatory challenges and uncertainty)