00:00It's Benzinga, bringing Wall Street to Main Street.
00:02A coalition of 12 states led by California sued to block Paramount's $81 billion acquisition
00:07of Warner Brothers Discovery, according to The Wall Street Journal.
00:11California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the merger would raise prices,
00:14reduce quality and limit film and television content, harming theaters, cable distributors,
00:19and consumers. The lawsuit alleges the combined company would control nearly one-third of
00:25theatrical films and basic cable programming, giving it greater leverage over theaters and
00:30pay TV distributors. The states asked the companies to delay closing until the case concludes and
00:36threatened to seek a temporary restraining order. Paramount said it will defend the transaction
00:40and argued the deal would strengthen competition with larger streaming rivals. A delay beyond
00:46September 30th could trigger a quarterly fee of about $650 million for Warner shareholders.
00:51The deal has received U.S. and several overseas approvals,
00:54but remains under review in the U.K. and European Union.
00:57For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.
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