Paramount has reached a settlement of the 12-state lawsuit seeking to block its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to multiple reports Monday, and an announcement is expected later in the day. Full details were not immediately available, but per Jessica Toonkel of The Wall Street Journal, Paramount will not have to sell any of its cable channels.
As first reported by Toonkel last week, Bonta and Paramount were nearing an agreement that would require the company to keep its movie studio separate from that of Warner Bros. Discovery for at least some period of time and agree to the creation of an independent advisory board to monitor its management of CNN. It was not immediately clear whether these provisions ended up in the final agreed-to settlement.
There had been disagreement among the plaintiffs as to whether to settle, according to numerous reports over the weekend. The holdouts — among them New York and Connecticut — were seeking additional concessions from Paramount beyond those being negotiated by California attorney general Rob Bonta, according to reporting in the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Status, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety and presumably others.
The settlement paves the way for the deal to close and Paramount to assume ownership of WBD, including the TNT Sports channels of TNT, TBS and truTV.
Sharon Waxman of The Wrap had reported Sunday that the sides were discussing a potential “hold separate” maneuver that would allow the merger to close even as the legal case continues to proceed, with the two companies operating independently in the interim. There was no indication from the early reporting Monday of that being part of the settlement, but few details were available. Under the Waxman scenario, TNT Sports would presumably continue to exist as an independent entity until the conclusion of any legal proceeding.
Barring that, it would seem that Paramount will be able to assume control of WBD relatively soon, presumably by the end of the year.
Little has been said about sports in the course of the Paramount-WBD saga, which has focused primarily on the companies’ respective movie studios and on CNN. But a combined entity would place two of the preeminent sports divisions, CBS Sports and TNT (formerly Turner) Sports, under the same umbrella. Given the ‘synergies’ Paramount intends to pursue, it stands to reason that one of those divisions will be absorbed by the other.
