Paramount Settles Multistate Lawsuit Over Proposed Warner Bros. Deal

04:29 PM EDT, 09/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has agreed to settle a multistate antitrust lawsuit involving its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), several attorneys general said Monday in separate statements. Earlier this year, a California-led coalition of 12 states sought to block the deal, alleging that the merger would lessen competition by lowering output and raising prices. Paramount announced a deal in February to buy Warner Bros. after streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) withdrew from its proposed purchase of the HBO Max owner. Paramount's proposed settlement with the states includes a five-year commitment to increase film output and a provision to spend at least $1.5 billion on domestic film production, the attorneys general of California, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and New York said. A $47.5 million fund for merger-impacted workers and restrictions on cable price negotiations are also part of the deal, which is subject to court approval. "Today's settlement protects workers, jobs, and Hollywood," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a post on X. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said the settlement should protect consumers from hikes to cable fees and workers from cuts to film and TV production. Washington's Nick Brown, Arizona's Kris Mayes, Oregon's Dan Rayfield, Colorado's Phil Weiser and New York's Letitia James separately endorsed the concessions secured. Paramount and Warner Bros. didn't reply to MT Newswires' requests for comment. Paramount has also reached a settlement with the Writers Guild of America, which had filed a case against the Warner Bros. deal, Reuters reported Monday. Earlier this month, Paramount said that it had satisfied all closing conditions under the merger agreement and that the lawsuits filed by the state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America were the only remaining barrier to closing the deal. Shares of Warner Bros. gained nearly 11% on Monday, while Paramount's fell 2.9%. "The combined company would have greater scale in content asset and production capabilities, across a range of content formats," Barrington Research Associates said in a report in August. "While the combined entity will have a substantial market share in parts of the entertainment ecosystem, it will remain a highly competitive market, particularly in streaming, where the combined company would also gain meaningful scale."