HBO Max subscriber sues Netflix to halt merger

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Let the legal battle begin.On Monday, a Las Vegas-based HBO Max subscriber sued Netflix over concerns that the streamer’s plans to buy some of Warner Bros.Discovery’s assets would create an anti-competitive environment in the entertainment industry and raise subscription prices.Netflix said last week it agreed to buy Warner Bros.

Discovery’s film and TV business, its Burbank lot, HBO and the HBO Max streaming service for $27.75 a share or $72 billion.It also agreed to take on more than $10 billion of Warner Bros.’ debt, creating a deal value of $82.7 billion.

Michelle Fendelander alleges in her lawsuit that if Netflix’s deal were to go through, it would decrease competition in the subscription streaming market.She is asking the court to issue an injunction to prevent the merger from happening or issue a remedy for the anti-competitive effects.

“American consumers — including SVOD purchasers like Plaintiff, an HBO Max subscriber — will bear the brunt of this decreased competition, paying increased prices and receiving degraded and diminished services for their money,” according to Fendelander’s lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status.The lawsuit was filed in a U.S.

District Court in San Jose.Netflix on Tuesday called the lawsuit “meritless” and “merely an attempt by the plaintiffs bar to leverage all the attention on the deal.” Hollywood Inc.

Netflix stock declined about 3% on Monday, as investors grew concerned that a Paramount bid could present challenges for Netflix’s plans to buy Warner Bros.Discovery assets.The Los Gatos, Calif.,-based streamer is long seen as the winner of the subscription streaming wars, boosted by having successfully entered the streaming content space earlier than rivals and for its superior recommendation technology.

By buying Warner Bros.Discovery’s assets, Netflix would gain access to more franchises and cha...