Julius Young — Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Vantage
A federal magistrate scheduled two days of settlement talks for late October between Paramount and the twelve state AGs fighting its WBD merger. California's AG calls it standard course, not progress.
Paramount Skydance and the coalition of twelve state attorneys general opposing its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery are set to sit for two consecutive days of court-ordered settlement talks in late October, before Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson. California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office has framed the development as procedure rather than progress, telling reporters that a court-ordered settlement conference means a judge required both sides to meet, not that a settlement is in progress.
The talks arrive alongside an escalating fight over money. Paramount has asked the court to require the states and the WGA, which joined the suit, to post a bond of roughly $1.88 billion to cover losses it says it is accumulating while the merger remains blocked pending trial. Paramount agreed not to close the deal until a verdict is reached, in exchange for the plaintiffs waiving the standard bond requirement when the injunction was first granted, and is now asking the court to reverse that waiver.
None of this changes the calendar. The merger remains paused, the ticking fee Paramount owes WBD shareholders begins accruing after September 30 at $7 million per day, and a trial is now understood to be set for around March 2027. Every additional month of delay adds cost on one side and leverage on the other, which is why the settlement conference is being treated with such caution by both sides. Related: Paramount Agreed to Wait for a Trial