A U.S. federal judge has granted Paramount’s PSKY-Q +3.40% increase settlement agreement with 12 states that sued over the company’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery WBD-Q +0.32%increase, allowing the companies to soon close their US$81-billion mega merger.
In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that the proposed consent decree was a “fair, reasonable, and good faith approach to address the competitive harms” alleged by the states’ lawsuit. Paramount – which was bought by Skydance just last year – previously called the antitrust challenge the last hurdle ahead of closing its Warner merger.
The companies now expect to complete the deal on Oct. 6.
Shortly after Martínez-Olguín’s ruling Wednesday afternoon, Paramount also announced Ynon Kreiz – who is toy giant Mattel’s current chief executive – will soon join as co-CEO alongside David Ellison.
