{"id":6087,"date":"2026-08-17T22:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6087"},"modified":"2026-08-17T22:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:39:44","slug":"california-a-g-rejects-1-88-billion-paramount-bond-says-company-wants-a-do-over-on-merger-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6087","title":{"rendered":"California A.G. Rejects $1.88 Billion Paramount Bond, Says Company Wants a \u2018Do-Over\u2019 on Merger Delay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tThe California attorney general\u2019s office fired back against Paramount\u2019s request for a $1.88 billion bond on Monday, saying the company is seeking a \u201cdo-over\u201d on its agreement to delay the Warner Bros. merger until an antitrust trial next March.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6086\">\u2018Spy Kids\u2019 Actor Alexa PenaVega Shares Heartbreak After Deaths of Fellow Child Stars Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg and Daveigh Chase: \u2018Hug Your People Close Today\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn a statement, the A.G.\u2019s office argued that Paramount is a \u201csophisticated\u201d company that knew it would face regulatory review when it agreed to pay Warner Bros. shareholders a $7 million-per-day ticking fee, and that California should not be made to bear the burden of that decision.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cBottom line:\u00a0Paramount went into this process with eyes wide open,\u201d the office said. \u201cThey are lying in a bed of their own making, and once again, trying to blackmail us to get us to back down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading a 12-state coalition to block the merger on the grounds that it will reduce competition in the theatrical and basic cable markets. Last month, Paramount agreed to hold off on closing the deal until after the case is resolved at trial, or until next June, whichever comes first.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut Paramount was hoping for an earlier trial date \u2014 ideally in November. In a motion filed on Monday, the company argued that it will be forced to pay $1.7 billion in ticking fees to Warner Bros. shareholders if the case drags out until June 1, plus another $190 million in financing costs.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tParamount argues that the states and the Writers Guild of America \u2014 which has filed its own antitrust suit \u2014 should be required to post a bond to cover its losses arising from the delay in the event that the deal is ultimately approved.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6084\">Donald Trump Attacks CNN\u2019s Kristen Holmes for Asking if He Spoke to North Korean Dictator: \u2018You\u2019re a Loud, Boisterous Person. Be Quiet!\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tJudge Araceli Martinez-Olguin initially granted a 14-day restraining order to block the merger in July. In that order, she waived the requirement to post a bond, saying the states had shown they were acting in pursuit of \u201cimportant public interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe states, the WGA and Paramount later entered a stipulation to delay the merger \u2014 the functional equivalent of a preliminary injunction \u2014 which did not include any bond requirement. Now that Martinez-Olguin has set the trial for March 2, Paramount is seeking to amend the agreement to include the $1.88 billion bond. Failing that, Paramount wants to dissolve the deal and allow the merger to close.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cParamount and Warner Bros. are two sophisticated companies who willfully decided to include a costly ticking fee as a provision in their merger contract. They knew this merger would undergo regulatory review; they knew it was not a done deal; and they chose to include it anyway,\u201d the A.G.\u2019s office said Monday. \u201cWhat\u2019s more, Paramount itself stipulated to the timing it is now protesting \u2014 they agreed to the dates and did not request a bond as a condition of agreeing not to close until after the trial, and potentially as late as June 2027. \u00a0Now, they\u2019re trying to get a do-over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn a statement on Monday, Paramount argued that the 12 states are defying a global consensus that the deal presents no issues of competitive harm and should be approved.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWe remain confident that plaintiffs\u2019 case is without merit and will defend our pro-competitive transaction in court,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6082\">Ariel Levy, a New Yorker Staff Writer, Joins \u201960 Minutes\u2019 as Contributor<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The California attorney general&#8217;s office rejected Paramount&#8217;s bid for a $1.88 billion bond on Monday, saying the company wants a &#8216;do-over.&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3341,3342],"class_list":["post-6087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-paramount-warner-bros-2","tag-rob-bonta"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>California A.G. Rejects $1.88 Billion Paramount Bond, Says Company Wants a \u2018Do-Over\u2019 on Merger Delay - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6087\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California A.G. Rejects $1.88 Billion Paramount Bond, Says Company Wants a \u2018Do-Over\u2019 on Merger Delay - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The California attorney general&#039;s office rejected Paramount&#039;s bid for a $1.88 billion bond on Monday, saying the company wants a &#039;do-over.&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6087\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T22:39:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6087#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=6087\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"California A.G. 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