A US Supreme Court Justice has thrown out an emergency filing to halt the $111bn Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) merger that is scheduled to close on Tuesday (October 6).
Justice Elena Kagan did not give reasons for dismissing the case brought by plaintiffs calling themselves Paramount subscribers, who said the transaction approved in last week’s consent decree was anticompetitive.
The suit argued that the decree filed by the 12 US states and Paramount and rubber-stamped by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin did not preserve competition between the two studios that will now be called Skydance.
In approving the consent decree last week, Judge Martinez-Olguin dismissed the plaintiffs’ case, which was initially filed last spring and was subsequently rejected by a district court and appeals court.
In the consent decree the combined company committed to release 30 films in the first two years, rising to 32 in the following three; to ensure separate cable carriage negotiations by Paramount and WBD’s cable channels; and to establish an editorial independence board overseeing the two news divisions CNN and CBS News.
On Monday Skydance announced its leadership structure. It will reportedly house the specialty division Warner Bros Clockwork led by Christian Parkes, although Skydance did not confirm. The independent film community has expressed concerns over vague commitments to independent cinema, with one source calling Skydance CEO David Ellison’s concessions “insultingly small”.
No comments yet