[{"cid":60308,"parent_cid":null,"body":"DOJ Gives Thumbs Up To Paramount’s $111B WBD Acquisition; Par Touts “Pro-Competitive” Merger As States Ponder Next Move\r\n\r\nhttps://deadline.com/2026/06/paramount-warner-bros-merger-approved-doj-1236955152/\r\n\r\nTildes: https://tildes.net/~movies/1uno/doj_gives_thumbs_up_to_paramounts_111b_wbd_acquisition_par_touts_pro_competitive_merger_as_states","created_at":"2026-06-12T22:37:34.260Z","tags":["tildes","bot"],"orgs":[],"usrs":[],"created_by":"bot_tildes","thumb":"https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/paramount-warner-bros-towers.jpg?w=1024","c_comments":1,"c_reactions":"","c_flags":0,"links":[],"flaggers":[],"author_ups":41,"author_downs":4,"author_posts_count":1220,"tag_ups":446,"tag_downs":77,"domain_ups":45,"domain_downs":4,"score":"2026-06-10T17:32:11.785Z","repost_ups":0,"mentions":[],"domains":["deadline.com","tildes.net"],"comments":"1","reaction_count":"0","reaction_counts":{},"user_reactions":[],"child_comments":[{"cid":60316,"body":"> # [DOJ Gives Thumbs Up To Paramount’s $111B WBD Acquisition; Par Touts “Pro-Competitive” Merger As States Ponder Next Move](https://deadline.com/2026/06/paramount-warner-bros-merger-approved-doj-1236955152/)\r\n>\r\n> UPDATED with Paramount statement: The Department of Justice has approved Paramount’s pending $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery.\r\n>\r\n> The signoff Friday by the Paramount-friendly Trump administration was confirmed to Deadline by multiple sources. No significant concessions by Paramount to the DOJ appear to have been made in order to gain the regulatory signoff, the sources indicated.\r\n>\r\n> “We are grateful for the Department of Justice’s thorough review of this transaction, as well as the work of the other agencies that have completed their reviews and provided clearance to date,” a Paramount spokesperson in a statement provided to Deadline. “This deal is pro-competitive, resulting in a stronger company better positioned to compete against dominant technology platforms in an industry increasingly defined by intense competition for audiences, talent, technology, and investment. We remain focused on completing the transaction as soon as possible and delivering its benefits to consumers, creators, and the entertainment industry as a whole.”\r\n>\r\n> The antitrust hurdle cleared by Paramount comes as state attorneys general in California, New York and almost a dozen other states are contemplating an antitrust suit to put the brakes on what would become a mega-studio.\r\n>\r\n> Paramount CEO David Ellison and his management team have promised to close the WBD deal by September 30. If they fail to do so, they have pledged to pay shareholders a “ticking fee” of several million dollars a day. In recent days, regulators in the UK and Europe have signaled their plans to take a closer look at the transaction. Particularly with the shape of summers on the continent, if clarity is not reached by the start of August, the process will likely drag into September.\r\n>\r\n> News leaking out of the approval comes the same day Paramount and the UFC (who have a $7.7 billion deal of their own) got a gift when a federal judge killed an eleventh-hour lawsuit to stop a UFC event at the White House on Sunday. The set of mixed-martial-arts matches, streaming live on Paramount+, will be contested on Donald Trump‘s 80th birthday.\r\n>\r\n> Among opponents to the merger, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been in the forefront, and Friday she was quick to react to DOJ green light.\r\n>\r\n> “This is terrible news for every American who doesn’t want Trump-aligned billionaires to control what they watch and how much they pay,” the New England senator said. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal has reeked of corruption and influence-peddling. This fight isn’t over. State AGs must block this merger.”\r\n>\r\n> Out West, Golden State AG Rob Bonta’s office has long stuck to its line that the “Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation, and we do not have any updates to share at this time.” The CA DOJ did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.\r\n>\r\n> Overseas, the much debated deal is hitting some roadblocks with UK regulators.\r\n>\r\n> Earlier this week, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority declared that it had opened a “merger inquiry” into the deal. With an August 7 deadline of sorts, the CMA intends to examine if the Paramount-WBD meld could present a “realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.” If the Brits believe that such a prospect is real, then a second phase in their probe will kick off — a Phase 2 that could last up to five months and gummy up the works for the merger.\r\n>\r\n> …","orgs":[],"tags":["tildes","bot"],"usrs":[],"c_flags":0,"comments":0,"created_at":"2026-06-12T22:38:04.67472+00:00","created_by":"bot_reader","parent_cid":60308,"child_comments":[],"user_reactions":[],"reaction_counts":{}}]}]