David Ellison’s Paramount has issued a statement confirming the company has settled the antitrust lawsuit with the 12 US state attorneys general, paving the way for Paramount’s $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
In a statement on Monday morning, Ellison said his goal had always been “to build a stronger Hollywood” and thanked the attorneys general and Writers Guild Of America, which also sued, as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom ”for his support throughout this process”.
An excerpt read: “Our shared aim was an outcome that best serves consumers, workers and — most importantly — the creative community so vital to the art of visual storytelling. We’re confident this agreement does exactly that, memorialising a series of commitments that include 30+ films annually and expanded US film production to help revitalize our industry here at home.”
Scroll to bottom for full statement
California AG Rob Bonta, who has been the figurehead in a lawsuit that argued any merger of the studios would stifle competition in the cable TV and theatrical sectors, elaborated on the terms in a press conference on Monday morning. Screen will update with details shortly.
Writers Guild of America has also settled its case, which was to be heard alongside that of the state attorneys general at a trial that was scheduled for March 2, 2027. The Guild said as part of the settlement, Paramount has agreed to prohibit writer lay-offs at CBS News for five years, and to pay $17.5m to the Guild’s health fund, plus attorneys fees in the litigation. The WGA said it remained opposed to the merger. Its statement appears at the bottom.
There was talk that Bonta and the attorneys general had sought a structural remedy such as an undertaking by Ellison to divest of certain assets like cable channels. In recent weeks the sense in Hollywood was that this would be an unlikely outcome.
The media mogul has indicated that he is unwilling to part ways with CNN despite concerns that a post-merger Paramount would result in a dominant news offering, given that Paramount already owns CBS News, and the need to maintain journalistic independence at the news channel.
Late last week when it emerged that Paramount and Bonta had been engaging in settlement talks there was talk around Hollywood that Ellison had offered to run Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures as separate entities. for an initial period He has also pledged that a combined company would release 30 features a year with minimum 45-day theatrical exclusivity. However these are behavioural remedies that are harder to monitor and enforce and it was unclear if Bonta would accept these.
Ellison was keen to get the transaction closed before October 1, when a ticking fee of approximately $7m a day and $650 a quarter kicks in, payable by Paramount to WBD shareholders.
Directors Guild of America also welcomed the settlement.
Statement from Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison
“We are grateful to Attorney General Bonta and his fellow AGs, as well as the WGA, for engaging in good faith to find a path forward to a resolution that serves all parties, and to Governor Newsom for his support throughout this process. Our shared aim was an outcome that best serves consumers, workers and — most importantly — the creative community so vital to the art of visual storytelling. We’re confident this agreement does exactly that, memorialising a series of commitments that include 30+ films annually and expanded U.S. film production to help revitalise our industry here at home.
”Our goal has always been to build a stronger Hollywood — one with more stories told, greater choice for consumers and stronger competition. That vision was validated by unanimous approval from competition authorities in nearly 70 jurisdictions worldwide, who agreed this deal is pro-competitive, pro-consumer and pro-worker. Having now addressed the State AGs’ and WGA’s concerns, we have complete clearance for this merger and look forward to putting these commitments into action. Bringing Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together will build that stronger Hollywood, creating expanded opportunity for our people and even more great entertainment for audiences around the world.”
WGA East and West statement
”We continue to believe the merger will cause damage to writers and the industry at large. Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial. Consequently, we have also settled our lawsuit with an agreement from Paramount to prohibit writer layoffs at CBS News Broadcast for 5 years, and to pay $17.5 million to our health fund along with our attorneys’ fees in the litigation.
“Though we were not successful in blocking the merger, our advocacy brought more attention to the harms that this merger—and others like it—will cause. We will continue to fight the harms of industry consolidation.
“As the number of outlets to sell our work to and the corresponding diversity of programming shrinks, we need industry-wide structural separation between streamers and studios in order to promote competition in programming, like the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules once required in broadcast television. We will continue to fight for these goals.”
