Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison has broken his silence, defending his company’s $110bn (£86bn) takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Opposition to the mega-merger relies on a vision of Hollywood that “no longer exists,” he wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times. In his first public comments on the transaction, Ellison rejected
Hollywood powerbroker Ari Emanuel has come to the defense of his friend and business partner David Ellison, alleging that state attorneys general trying to block Paramount’s deal with Warner Bros. Discovery are threatening to “destroy” competition in the entertainment industry. Emanuel, CEO of TKO Group and former director of Endeavor, wrote an op-ed published Tuesday
A federal judge on Thursday extended the order blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger for an additional 14 days, meaning the deal cannot close before Aug. 18. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín is scheduled to hold a hearing on August 3 on a request for a preliminary injunction that would block the deal indefinitely. Paramount is requesting additional
David Ellison may have believed that Paramount Skydance could have closed its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by now. The deal was approved by the Justice Department in June (apparently over the objections of staff reviewing it). It has been officially cleared by the EU, and Paramount agreed to the relatively minor concession
A judge on Friday heard arguments on a state coalition’s request for a restraining order to stop the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and said she would issue a ruling next Wednesday. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín suggested at one point that Paramount had admitted it would suffer no harm if a temporary restraining order was granted, which
The Oregon attorney general’s office withdrew its motion to delay the closing of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, according to a filing Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon. The deal could close as soon as July 22, although several states, including Oregon and California, are investigating whether the $111 billion transaction violates their