Paramount and California to Hold Preliminary Talks on Warner Bros. Deal

Representatives for Paramount and the State of California are set to meet on Monday to discuss a potential path for settling the state’s lawsuit that seeks to halt Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros.Discovery, four people briefed on the upcoming discussions said.The talks are preliminary, and there is no assurance that they will lead to meaningful negotiations toward a settlement, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

Paramount requested the meeting, two of the people said.Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros.would create a media powerhouse combining two major movie studios, multiple streaming services and the news outlets CNN and CBS News.Last month, California led 12 state attorneys general in suing to block the deal, arguing it would create a media company with outsize market power in cable television and studios.The meeting, which will include senior executives and lawyers from each side, has been in the works for a little over a week, said one of the people.

It remains unclear what resolution Paramount might offer that would satisfy the attorneys general.Paramount declined to comment for this article.California’s attorney general, Robert Bonta, has said he would be wiling to accept only structural remedies to resolve the lawsuit, which typically means selling off pieces of a business.

Executives are often reluctant to hive off parts of a newly merged company because they have already made financial assumptions about the combined operations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....