A coalition of 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America filed a legal opposition in federal court urging Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin to reject Paramount Skydance’s request for a $1.88 billion bond. The legal battle centers on the antitrust lawsuit filed on July 13 to block Paramount’s multi-billion-dollar merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
State AGs and WGA Push Back Against Paramount Bond Request
In their Monday court filing in Oakland, the opposing states and labor union argued that Paramount is attempting to shift the financial burdens of its own voluntary business agreements onto the public and a non-profit labor union. According to the filing, Paramount willingly offered to pay Warner Bros. shareholders a ticking fee starting October 1 as an incentive to persuade Warner Bros. to abandon a previous deal with Netflix. The ticking fee amounts to $7 million a day, translating to $650 million per quarter, and could cost the company an unrecoverable $1.3 billion by the time legal briefs are submitted following a trial scheduled for March 2027.
Dispute Over Voluntary Stipulations and Self-Imposed Costs
The state AGs and the Writers Guild of America emphasized that Paramount voluntarily agreed to refrain from closing the merger until the antitrust case is resolved or until June 1, 2027. The opposing parties accused Paramount of trying to rewrite a joint stipulation that the company itself proposed and negotiated.
Defendant Paramount Skydance seeks to extract $1.88 billion from the public and a non-profit labor union to underwrite the costs of two private contracts it entered willfully, with advice of counsel, and for its own benefit,
the filing stated. The group further noted that Paramount waited 24 days without conducting intervening discovery before asking the court to modify the stipulation, arguing that the company cannot demonstrate a significant change in circumstances to justify the demand.
Paramount Defends Bond Requirement Under Antitrust Rules
Paramount defended its request by pointing to federal legal standards, arguing that organizations seeking to block corporate transactions must post bonds to protect against potential financial harm if their legal challenges ultimately fail. A Paramount spokesperson stated that plaintiffs should not receive a free pass from the requirement simply by invoking the public interest.
“Plaintiffs cannot have it both ways: they cannot seek the extraordinary remedy of preventing Paramount from closing the transaction while insisting they bear no responsibility for the enormous costs a delayed trial and injunction will cause if their case fails,” a company spokesperson said. Paramount maintains that regulatory entities representing at least 68 countries have approved or declined to challenge the transaction, leaving the antitrust lawsuits as the final hurdle to completing the deal.
Upcoming Hearing and Alternative Proposals
A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for September 24 to hear arguments and decide whether to impose the bond requested by David Ellison’s media company. In anticipation of the court’s decision, the opposing states and the Writers Guild of America included an alternative proposal in their court filing, suggesting that if the court does grant Paramount’s motion, it should impose a nominal bond of just $10,000.
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