California to Paramount: Assimilate This

After this week’s double punch of reports that, first, the Warner Bros. Discovery board had determined Paramount’s latest bid was the “superior proposal” and that Netflix’s response was to not elevate its personal supply however rather to back out entirely, it’d be tempting to imagine Hollywood’s biggest deal in years is signed, sealed, and delivered. However… not so quick, says California Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta.

“Paramount/Warner Bros. shouldn’t be a achieved deal,” Bonta wrote on X after the information broke. “These two Hollywood titans haven’t cleared regulatory scrutiny—the California Division of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our assessment.”

As Deadline reminds us, Bonta’s workplace opened an inquiry into the Warner Bros. acquisition—no matter which suitor, Netflix or Paramount, ended up victorious—simply final week. On February 20, the AG defined, “The movie and leisure trade not solely has historic significance to our state, it is also a crucial sector that buoys the state’s economic system of California and touches the lives of Individuals every day. The proposed Warner Brothers transactions should obtain a full and strong assessment, and California is taking a really shut look.”

Whereas possession of Warner Bros. is technically a enterprise deal, political fervor has additionally constructed up across the difficulty, seemingly an unavoidable circumstance in America in the present day. And that’s not going to vary it doesn’t matter what occurs subsequent. As CNN—a Warner Bros.-owned outlet that may discover itself below the identical possession because the not too long ago overhauled CBS, if Paramount finalizes its buy—writes, “[President Donald] Trump was and stays a significant X issue within the transaction. Though presidents sometimes keep out of antitrust investigations, Trump strongly urged that he favored a Paramount deal due to Ellison’s politics.”

To date, neither Trump nor California Governor Gavin Newsom, a famous Trump opponent, has spoken out on this newest improvement within the Warner Bros. sale. No matter occurs, it feels like Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav isn’t too labored up concerning the consequence.

In line with Business Insider, he did admit to WBD staffers that the pace of the turnaround was a shock even to him. However Zaslav emphasised they’d be OK even when the regulatory approval, estimated to take six to 12 months, doesn’t come via, due to the big “breakup price” Paramount should pay if that occurs.

“The deal might not shut,” Enterprise Insider quoted Zaslav as saying. “If it doesn’t shut, we get $7 billion, and we get again to work.”

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