U.S. Judge Halts Paramount–Warner Bros. Merger in Antitrust Fight

GLOBAL MEDIA M&A

Northern District of California grants a 14-day restraining order; the Aug. 3 injunction hearing shapes up as the decisive test for the roughly $111 billion deal

A U.S. federal court has temporarily halted the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). On July 20, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, sitting in Oakland, granted a 14-day temporary restraining order barring the two companies from closing their deal.