Business 4 min read By Lauren Baxter
David Ellison Says Paramount Hopes to Close Warner Bros. Discovery Deal in About Two Weeks After Legal Settlements
Paramount CEO David Ellison told employees the company aims to complete its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery in roughly two weeks, after settling lawsuits brought by state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America.
Paramount CEO David Ellison told employees that the company hopes to complete its long-sought merger with Warner Bros. Discovery in approximately two weeks, after a pair of legal challenges to the deal were settled. In a memo sent Monday, Ellison called the resolution of the lawsuits «an exciting moment for our company and our industry,» while cautioning that there is «still work ahead to get this deal across the finish line.»
The settlements clear the most significant remaining obstacles to combining Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The agreement with a group of state attorneys general, who had sued to block the transaction on antitrust grounds, was followed by a separate settlement with the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West. The guilds had filed their own lawsuit seeking to stop the merger.
According to the WGA, the settlement was reached after Paramount struck a deal with 12 state attorneys general. The guilds announced the resolution in a statement Monday, ending their legal effort to block the combination. The twin agreements followed a weekend of intense negotiations with the state officials and the union, according to accounts of the talks.
Ellison, the Silicon Valley heir who has spent nearly a year assembling the historic combination, framed the settlements as a victory in his Monday address to staff. He said the company's goal is to «close in approximately two weeks.» The timeline remains tentative, and the memo acknowledged that additional steps are still required before the deal can be finalized.
The proposed merger would unite Paramount Skydance, the parent of Paramount Pictures and CBS, with Warner Bros. Discovery, home to Warner Bros. Studios, HBO, CNN and a deep library of film and television titles. The combination has been closely watched across the entertainment industry because of its potential to reshape the competitive landscape in Hollywood and the broader media business.
Opposition to the deal had come from two directions. A coalition of state attorneys general argued that the merger would harm competition, while the Writers Guild of America raised its own antitrust concerns in a separate legal challenge. Both efforts are now resolved through settlement, removing the immediate legal barriers to closing.
Reaction to the settlements has been mixed across the industry, with guilds, state officials and activists offering a range of responses. Some have welcomed the resolution, while others continue to voice concerns about consolidation in media. Ellison's memo did not address those criticisms directly, focusing instead on the path forward for the company.
For Paramount employees, the memo offered the clearest signal yet that the transaction is entering its final phase. Ellison praised the settlement as a milestone, but his language also reflected the caution of a chief executive who has seen the deal face months of scrutiny. The two-week target, if met, would mark the culmination of a process that has stretched across much of the past year.
The merger's completion would create a combined company with significant reach across film, television, streaming and news. How the integration will proceed, and what it will mean for employees and creative partners, remains to be detailed. For now, the company's focus is on closing the deal and moving past the legal fights that had threatened to delay or derail it.
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