Why Paramount's Warner Bros. deal suddenly looks less certain

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Set us as preferred Tech scion David Ellison for months projected confidence that his blockbuster Hollywood merger was on a glide path to completion.His media company Paramount Skydance’s pitch early this year was that its proposed $111-billion acquisition of rival Warner Bros.Discovery could easily clear regulatory hurdles — unlike Netflix’s competing bid.

Ellison has heavyweights in his corner: His billionaire father Larry Ellison, co-founder of software giant Oracle, is bankrolling the deal, and President Trump is eager for the Ellison family to own CNN and other Warner assets, including HBO and the Burbank film and TV studios behind “Batman,” Harry Potter, Wile E.Coyote, and “The Pitt.”“We could technically close [the deal] tomorrow,” Ellison told business new channel CNBC during a March interview.

“There is nothing in this transaction that trips anything that would create cause for concern.”But Paramount made a dramatic retreat Friday after two weeks of legal setbacks.The firm had been aiming to close the deal by September but agreed to table its takeover — perhaps until next spring — to allow a fiercer than expected challenge from California Atty.

Gen.Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general to advance to trial before an Oakland-based federal judge.

The state prosecutors allege Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros.violates a century-old antitrust law by giving the combined company too much heft in theatrical movie distribution and cable television.

Hollywood Inc.The concessions come as Paramount Skydance already was facing the prospect of a lengthy moratorium.

The latest delay could extend to next summer.The delay could saddle Paramount, the smallest of the major media companies, with substantial legal fees and hundreds of millions of dollars in added deal costs....