Paramount & Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Trial Scheduled For March 2027

The lawsuit filed against Paramount seeking to block its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery will go to trial in March of 2027. Deadline reports that the start date for the lawsuit trial has been scheduled by a judge for March 2nd, running through March 19th.

The lawsuit was filed by the attorney generals for a coalition of states including Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, and California. They are arguing that Paramount’s WBD acquisition will violate antitrust laws by substantially hurting competition in wide-release and top-grossing theatrical distribution, as well as cable licensing.

Paramount agreed in late July to halt its efforts to close the deal while the lawsuit carries through. There is a time issue here in that as part of the deal, Paramount will pay $6.9 million per day after September 30th, equivalent to $650 million per quarter. With the trial not starting until March, that puts a high additional price tag on the deal.

Until the trial is complete, the merger will not take place. The issue they will step into now that the date has been set is that Paramount promised to pay WBD $7 million per day for every day after 9/30 if the merger has not been completed. With the trial set for March, that’s a lot of money to be on the hook for.

In addition, the merger has an expiration date of June 4th, 2027 and if the transaction doesn’t close due to regulatory issues like this, Paramount has agreed to a $7 billion termination fee.

A spokesperson for Paramount told Deadline:

“We respect the court’s decision and continue to believe a trial on the merits is the best and most direct way for us to prove what we’ve said from the start – this transaction is lawful, pro-competitive, and raises no antitrust concerns. The lawsuit against us has no basis in fact, economics or antitrust law. We will continue to vigorously defend the transaction and remain committed to closing as soon as possible so its benefits for the creative community and consumers can be realized.”

Warner Bros. Discovery is of course the broadcast partner of AEW. Tony Khan has expressed optimism about Paramount acquiring WBD, noting that he expects Paramount to stick with AEW “100%.”