Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield confirmed Tuesday that he is taking steps to slow Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros. Discovery merger by seeking a court order requiring the company to turn over records tied to the state’s lobbying investigation and delaying the deal’s closing for 60 days.
“We’re not going to let Paramount Skydance play hide the ball so they can rush through their massive merger,” Rayfield said in a statement to media Tuesday evening. “Oregonians have a real stake in this deal – in our film industry, in our economy, in the choices they’ll have as consumers. Paramount had every opportunity to hand over records and answer a few basic questions. Instead, it is trying to run out the clock and evade scrutiny. We’re asking the court to make sure Oregonians get the answers they’re owed before this deal closes, not after.”
Per Rayfield’s office, Paramount has allegedly dodged and delayed their records request while trying to close its $110 billion deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
However, the ODOJ stated that they have been “investigating the proposed merger since it was announced in February,” noting that this work included a June records request, in which they asked for “documents about the company’s lobbying of federal officials in support of the deal, its role in a U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) statement approving the merger and an internal effort the company calls ‘Project Warrior.’”
After claiming that Paramount had not complied with their request, the ODOJ stated that the company allegedly dragged its feet in communicating with them and “ultimately sent objections on the day its documents were due.”
“Paramount has told Oregon it does not intend to close the deal before July 16 but has not agreed to hold off any longer while the state’s investigation continues,” the ODOJ further noted in its update. “The state’s request asks the court to require Paramount to fully comply within three days of an order, and to bar the company from closing its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery for 60 days from the date it substantially complies.”
The ODOJ confirmed that they will present the motion in person at in Multnomah County Court on Wednesday afternoon.
However, Paramount has painted a strikingly different picture in a statement shared with TheWrap.
“The information the Oregon Department of Justice is seeking has nothing to do with whether this transaction complies with Oregon’s antitrust laws and is not a legitimate basis to delay a plainly lawful, pro-competitive transaction,” a spokesperson told TheWrap Tuesday evening. “We have provided the attorney general’s office with all relevant documents it requested for the merger.”
They added that “authorities around the world … have carefully reviewed this transaction, clearing it or concluding that it does not violate any competition laws. “
“That regulatory record underscores what the facts, the law and the economics make clear: this transaction will create a stronger challenger to dominant global streaming and technology platforms, expand consumer choice, increase investment in premium content and theatrical distribution, and create more opportunities for creators and workers,” the statement continued. “Any attempt to delay this transaction would undermine those benefits and protect entrenched incumbents from the stronger competition this merger will create. We will vigorously defend against such efforts in court.”
The update comes nearly a month after the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal was cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where they ruled that the merger “not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers” based on the evidence received over the course of an eight-month investigation.
Additionally, the Paramount-WBD merger has been given clearance from regulators in Kuwait, South Africa, China, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Serbia and North Macedonia and foreign direct investment authorities in Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Czechia, Italy, France and Romania. There is also “no statutory impediment” to clear the merger in Canada after a waiting period under the country’s Competition Act expired.
And, as we reported last week, the company has submitted concessions to secure regulatory approval in Europe, where the European Commission extended the deadline of its Phase 1 investigation from July 7 to July 22.
“We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the European Commission and all remaining regulatory agencies as they advance their review process for this procompetitive transaction,” the company said at the time.
