Judge Defers Ruling on Paramount Merger Settlement

A federal judge on Thursday deferred a decision on a proposed antitrust settlement between Paramount Skydance and 12 state attorneys general over the company’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, asking the parties for additional submissions before ruling. The settlement has not been approved, leaving the states’ challenge and a key step toward completing the merger unresolved. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín directed the parties to respond by noon Monday, September 28, to a letter from Sen. Cory Booker, who urged an independent public-interest review of the proposed consent decree. The judge also requested further information about the agreement and its proposed compliance oversight. She did not set a date for a ruling, saying she would decide after reviewing the materials. Booker argued that the proposed decree does not address the merger’s alleged anticompetitive effects or potential job losses. He said a public-interest review was warranted because the Justice Department had closed its investigation without seeking remedies. Those are his stated concerns, not findings by the court.