Paramount, Atty. Gen. Bonta ordered to meet for merger settlement talks

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

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Paramount Skydance will meet with California Atty.Gen.

Rob Bonta’s representatives next month for court-ordered settlement talks that could clear a path for David Ellison’s $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros.Discovery.

The two sides will convene for two days, Oct.14 and Oct.

15, according to court documents filed this week.The talks come as both sides look for ways to resolve the pitched battle over Hollywood’s industry-reshaping deal, which would put HBO, CBS, CNN, TBS, Food Network, Comedy Central and the Paramount and Warner Bros.

studios under one roof.Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general sued in July to block it, and Ellison’s team has been stoking political pressure on Bonta to retreat.Bonta canceled a session last month after prelimary details and ground rules leaked, prompting him to accuse Paramount of “playing games” by violating a confidentiality agreement and spreading misinformation.Bonta’s Paramount case appears to have ruffled the Trump administration.

He sued one month after the Justice Department blessed the merger without demanding concessions — a decision that Bonta said showed federal officials were not doing their jobs to enforce antitrust law.This week the department weighed in on Paramount’s side.

Hollywood Inc.Los Angeles’ identity and workers’ livelihoods are at stake, say worried residents who fear that Paramount will leave the state.“The United States enforces the federal antitrust laws and has a strong interest in their correct application,” the Justice Department said in a Tuesday filing, describing its unique position to bring antitrust actions.

Its “statement of interest” argued that the plaintiffs had sued as “private persons,” who must clear higher hurdles than the federal government.The department also asked t...