US Judge Halts Paramount-Warner Bros. $110 Bln Merger

(RTTNews) - A California district judge granted a temporary restraining order pausing the proposed $110 billion merger between media giants Paramount Skydance (PSKY) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

Last week, a coalition of 12 U.S. states had filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to stop to the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, setting up a major legal challenge to the media merger.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argued that the deal would reduce competition, increase prices, lower the quality of entertainment and lead to fewer films and television shows being produced.

The restraining order halts the merger while the court considers ruling on the preliminary injunction, which would block the merger for the duration of the lawsuit.

In the overnight activity on Nasdaq, the shares for Warner Bros. were trading 0.04 percent higher at $25.87, after closing Monday's trading 3.76 percent down.

In the overnight activity on Nasdaq, the shares for Paramount were trading 0.58 percent higher at $8.62, after closing Monday's trading 2.06 percent down.