Paramount agreed to formally acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for $111 billion (~RM 455 billion) in February. The formal announcement came after Netflix backed out after refusing to increase the $82.7 billion acquisition price agreed upon late last year.
But the acquisition plan is now on hold after a judge issued a temporary restraining order. This is because 12 US state attorneys general applied for a temporary restraining order, and Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin of the Northern District of California Court granted the request.
The merger of the two media giants was opposed because it was seen as reducing competition, raising prices, lowering quality and reducing entertainment content for consumers. It was allegedly in violation of federal law that prohibits mergers that could reduce competition.
Under the original agreement, Paramount would acquire the assets of Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery networks, Discovery+ and Bleacher Report. This conglomerate already owns Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, Paramount Animation, CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, and Showtime. This raises the question of monopoly compared to if Warner Bros. Discovery was taken over by Netflix.
