California’s AG joins Elaine hours after the merger was halted to explain the odds of survival and the options
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Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
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States, 1. Paramount, 0. The $111 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger has hit its first real wall after a coalition of 12 states won a temporary restraining order blocking the deal. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the charge, isn’t interested in helping Paramount find a way around it. “We love the judge’s order,” Bonta tells Elaine Low in an exclusive interview recorded just hours after the ruling. The decision gives Paramount as long as 28 days to choose among three bad options — settle, fight or walk away — and Bonta argues it has already undercut one of the company’s central defenses: that the merger would help it compete with Netflix, Amazon and Apple, even if it reduces competition in theatrical film and cable. He explains why more states may now join the challenge, what happens at the pivotal preliminary-injunction hearing on Aug. 3 and whether any concession could persuade him to stand down. His answer, essentially: Don’t merge. Plus, Sean McNulty and Richard Rushfield join Elaine to explain why the deal is no longer inevitable — and whether this is merely a two-week delay or the beginning of the end for Paramount-WBD.
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