CEO David Ellison remains confident, citing regulatory approvals and market data to defend the $110 billion deal.

  • A California judge set a 12-day antitrust trial for March 2027 over Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros. Discovery merger. 
  • The delay could cost Paramount more than $1.6 billion in shareholder payments before a final decision. 
  • Paramount CEO David Ellison said the Warner Bros. Discovery merger would strengthen competition and remains confident the deal will close. 

Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) $110 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is set for an antitrust trial in March 2027, but CEO David Ellison believes the merger will go through and says the company is ready to fight the legal challenge. 

Court Sets Paramount Skydance’s Trial Timeline

A California federal judge, Araceli Martínez-Olguín, has set a 12-day trial starting March 2, 2027, to hear lawsuits from a coalition of 12 states and the Writers Guild of America. The groups contend that the merger could hurt competition in Hollywood. 

The legal challenges claim that bringing Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery under one corporate structure could give the companies excessive influence over film, television and creative markets. Paramount has agreed to delay the $110 billion merger until June 1, 2027, or until a court makes a final decision on an antitrust lawsuit challenging the deal. 

The delayed court schedule could increase the cost of keeping the transaction alive. Under the merger agreement, Paramount must pay Warner Bros. shareholders about $7 million each day starting Oct.1 until the deal closes. Those payments could exceed $1.6 billion by June if the process continues.

Paramount Skydance stock edged 0.4% lower overnight, ahead of Wednesday, while Warner Bros. stock inched 0.2% higher. 

Ellison Confident About PSKY-WBD Merger 

Speaking during Paramount’s fiscal second-quarter (Q2) earnings call, Ellison said the proposed transaction has cleared regulatory hurdles and expects the deal to move ahead. He pointed to approvals from competition authorities across 65 jurisdictions, including the U.S., Canada, the European Union and China, as evidence that regulators have found no major issues with the agreement. 

“If you look at everybody who has published an opinion on the merger, [they] have all identified the markets the exact same way and have all come to the same conclusion, which is that this deal raises no competition concerns.”

He argued that the combined company would remain smaller than several major rivals across entertainment and streaming, including Netflix (NFLX), and Amazon.com (AMZN).

“As it relates to the ongoing litigation, we're absolutely open to finding a solution out of court, but we also really believe that we'll win at trial.” 

Meanwhile, Paramount’s Q2 revenue reached $6.91 billion, beating analysts’ average expectation of $6.8 billion, according to Fiscal AI. The company’s streaming segment, Paramount+, had its best retention quarter ever.

PSKY Stock: Retail View 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for PSKY improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ territory. 

A user said, “If we think about it due to the dollar size $110B of this merger, it could make or break the Judges career, establish her legacy, good or bad.”

Another user said, “It is time to move out of California. California will lose the lawsuit and all the Studios.”

PSKY stock has crashed 37% year-to-date, while WBD stock has declined 10%. 

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