Paramount Seeks Three-Day Hearing As Judge Weighs Preliminary Injunction - Deadline

What the report says

Deadline reports that Paramount is asking U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin to hold a three-day evidentiary hearing in late August as she considers whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery while litigation continues. The request follows a temporary restraining order issued Monday that paused the deal for two weeks, with an Aug. 3 hearing currently set on the broader injunction request.

The legal challenge was filed last week by California and 11 other states, which are pursuing an antitrust case against the transaction. Paramount’s lawyers proposed a hearing during the weeks of Aug. 17 or Aug. 24 and said the company would agree to extend the temporary restraining order until the court rules. They argued that factual disputes over market definition, competition, barriers to expansion and incentives require a fuller evidentiary record before the judge decides whether the states have met their burden.

A key pressure point is Sept. 30, Deadline reports, after which Paramount would owe Warner Bros. Discovery a $7 million daily “ticking fee” if the deal has not closed. Paramount’s legal team, led by Jeffrey Kessler, said an injunction could create uncertainty and cost the company more than $1 billion in fees and other expenses.

The state attorneys general oppose altering the existing schedule, saying Paramount is trying to change it at the last minute. Separately, the Writers Guild of America, which has filed its own lawsuit and preliminary injunction motion, also objected to Paramount’s proposed timing and argued that an evidentiary hearing would be unfair without discovery.