<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/supreme-court/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Supreme Court</a> Justice <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/elena-kagan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elena Kagan</a> denied an emergency application filed by consumers on Monday that sought to prevent the Paramount-Warner Bros. <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/mergers-and-acquisitions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">merger</a> from closing the following day.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Kagan, who oversees emergency applications from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, rejected the plaintiffs’ petition without providing a reason. This case had previously been dismissed by both the district court and the appeals court.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Earlier on Monday, five consumers identifying as <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/paramount/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paramount</a> subscribers, viewers, and cable customers contended that the merger would be anticompetitive, despite a settlement reached by 12 Democratic state attorneys general with the two <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/hollywood/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hollywood</a> studios.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to the <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28722394/26a455.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">court filing</a>, “The States’ settlement itself requires that the combined company not sell or close the Paramount or Warner Bros. lots during the commitment period, provides reapplication rights to employees displaced by the transaction, and creates an editorial-independence board.” The plaintiffs argued that these safeguards demonstrate the extent of integration that would occur with the merger, but do not maintain competition between Paramount and Warner Bros.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Paramount and Warner Bros. are scheduled to merge under Skydance on Tuesday, following a monthslong bidding war and legal disputes that did not go to trial. The plaintiffs claimed that the merger's closing would lead to “immediate and irreparable injury” for consumers using HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They stated, “Closing will not merely change a stock ledger. It will replace separate ownership with common control over competing studios, streaming products and news organizations and permit the integration respondents themselves describe. Once independent pricing, programming, release, newsroom, technology, employment and investment decisions are centralized, later relief cannot restore the period of competition that was lost.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Had Kagan allowed the appeal to proceed, the Supreme Court would have needed to block the $111 billion transaction while reviewing the petition.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The emergency application requested a narrow order to preserve separate ownership and prevent integration until the petition was resolved or further orders were issued. It did not address final antitrust liability but aimed to maintain the Court’s ability to address legal questions before the October 6 closing alters the competitive structure protected by the Clayton Act.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4749092/judge-approves-settlement-paramount-warner-bros-merger/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">JUDGE APPROVES SETTLEMENT OF PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. MERGER</a></strong></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">With the last-minute challenge denied, Paramount CEO David Ellison can proceed with the merger as planned. The deal cleared its final significant legal obstacle last week when U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin approved the states’ settlement with Paramount and Warner Bros.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Shortly thereafter, Ellison announced that Skydance will manage the two companies and their media assets. The merger will also bring <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/cbs-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CBS News</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/cnn/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a> under a board that will ensure the editorial independence of each news outlet, with Paramount controlling CBS News and Warner Bros. owning CNN.</p>