{"id":468465,"date":"2026-09-19T00:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468465\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T00:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:04:09","slug":"paramount-and-california-ag-bonta-reportedly-closing-in-on-a-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468465\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount and California AG Bonta Reportedly Closing in on a Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tParamount<\/a> and a dozen states led by California attorney general Rob Bonta are closing in on a deal to settle a lawsuit challenging the studio\u2019s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two sides are in \u201cadvanced talks\u201d to resolve the case, per the report. Under the reported deal, terms include \u201cParamount agreeing to operate the two companies\u2019 movie studios separately for a period rather than immediately combining them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn another sign that a deal is imminent, Reuters reported<\/a> that an agreement could come \u201cas soon as this weekend.\u201d The settlement could require independent content monitoring of CNN, plus a commitment on the number of theatrical releases. <\/p>\n

\n\tAcross the litigation, Bonta has maintained he\u2019ll only accept structural remedies, which typically involve companies selling off parts of the combined business, and has previously said such an agreement to run studio operations independently cannot be the primary component of any potential deal. So far, Paramount has only offered behavioral concessions, including a pledge to release at least 30 movies with 45-day theatrical windows.<\/p>\n

\n\tA deal struck without any divestitures would be a major win for Paramount CEO David Ellison, who\u2019s threatened to move the studio out of California if an agreement isn\u2019t reached by the start of next month regardless of the ultimate outcome of the case. With a settlement, Paramount would be able to close the merger ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline when a so-called $7 million-per-day ticking fee will start to accrue.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe discussions are \u201congoing and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached,\u201d the story added.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPotential settlement talks are confidential,\u201d said a spokesperson for Bonta\u2019s office in a statement. \u201cWe cannot confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring or their alleged substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount declined to comment. <\/p>\n

\n\tMovement on deal talks have been slow, with leaks having blown up discussions in public jockeying over a settlement. Last month, Bonta canceled a meeting with Paramount scheduled for the following day, accusing the studio\u2019s representatives of leaking and misrepresenting details of negotiations they held. <\/p>\n

\n\tA trial is scheduled to start in March, with Paramount, the states and the Writers Guild of America slated to formally sit down for two consecutive days starting on Oct. 14 to explore a settlement.<\/p>\n

\n\tA key regulatory approval came on Thursday when the FCC signed off on equity investments from three prominent Middle East sovereign wealth funds that are backing Paramount\u2019s bid. The sovereign wealth funds are collectively providing roughly $24 billion in financing to help bankroll Paramount\u2019s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, according to SEC filings. Their investment, along with that of others, will result in foreign investors collectively holding 49.5% of the combined company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paramount and a dozen states led by California attorney general Rob Bonta are closing in on a deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,6336],"class_list":["post-468465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-paramount"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}