Judge Sets Paramount-Warner Bros Merger Trial for March

A federal judge has scheduled a trial for March 2027 to determine the fate of the proposed $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set the 12-day trial to begin on March 2, 2027, and conclude on March 15, with proceedings dark on March 8 and 15. The decision sets the stage for a high-stakes legal battle with a coalition of 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America, who are suing to block the transaction on antitrust grounds.

The trial date represents a compromise between the parties. Paramount had sought an earlier start in November of this year, arguing that a later date would force the companies to re-file merger materials with regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, because a key waiting period expires on February 19, 2027. The company warned that redoing completed regulatory work globally would serve nobody's interests. The state coalition and the WGA, however, requested a trial beginning in April 2027, stating they needed extensive time for discovery to build their case against the merger's potential harms to competition.

Financially, the later trial date triggers...