Iowa’s Attorney General Threatens To Sue California Over Its Effort To Block Paramount’s Merger With Warner Bros. Discovery

More headaches may be on the way for California as Iowa’s Republican attorney general is vowing to sue the Golden State over its effort to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery California and 11 other states sued to block Paramount’s merger, raising concerns that the deal would limit competition and drive up prices for consumers. While the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, and dozens of other countries approved the deal, a U.S. district court judge granted a request in July by California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, to block the transaction. With the deal on hold, Paramount faces a “ticking fee” of $7 million each day the merger is delayed beyond September 30. Iowa’s attorney general, Brenna Bird, says she plans to sue the Golden State over its Paramount lawsuit. In an op-ed published in the Daily Wire, Ms. Bird defended the merger, saying it would lead to the creation of a larger company that can better compete with the streaming giant Netflix.“Now think about what California’s delay is doing. Beginning in October, Paramount is contractually obligated to pay Warner Bros. roughly $7 million a day for as long as this transaction sits in limbo, and the trial that 12 state attorneys general have engineered will not even start until March 2027,” Ms. Bird said. “That money could have lowered streaming costs but instead is being burned on a lawsuit that federal antitrust enforcers and 68 regulators around the world already concluded was unnecessary.”Beyond the fees and the costs of dealing with the litigation, the attorney general said that the hold impacts Warner Bros., saying that the studio “cannot confidently green-light a film, upgrade its technology, or sign a long-term contract without knowing whether it will exist as an independent company next year.” Those delays may prevent movies from being made as she said that funding for the films could expire or the talent could move on to other projects.”“So what exactly is California’s lawsuit protecting us from?” Ms. Bird asked as she noted the Justice Department investigated the deal and found that it would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem” and provide benefits to “American consumers and workers.”Ms. Bird pushed back on California’s allegation that the Justice Department approved the deal as a “political favor” to Paramount’s owners. “Someone should explain how the Department managed to get approval in China, Europe, Canada, and the other 60-plus jurisdictions. When regulators in 68 jurisdictions with different laws, different politics, and no stake whatsoever in American elections all reach the same conclusion, the outlier is not the consensus,” she said. Ms. Bird wrote that the order blocking the merger “does not stop at the California border” and “reaches into Iowa” and every other state. “California is once again trying to be the country’s regulator. And once again California is defying common sense to raise costs around the country,” she said. “That makes this a dispute between states, and the Constitution says those can only be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.”Mr. Bonta’s office did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Ms. Bird’s op-ed comes amid mounting pressure on California to resolve the lawsuit. Paramount asked a federal judge to order California and the other states to post a bond of $1.88 billion to cover the cost of the “ticking fee” if the deal goes through. The three largest movie theater chains in America — Cinemark, Regal Cinemas, and AMC Theatres — also expressed support for the deal last week.

Iowa’s Attorney General Threatens To Sue California Over Its Effort To Block Paramount’s Merger With Warner Bros. Discovery

Iowa’s Attorney General Threatens To Sue California Over Its Effort To Block Paramount’s Merger With Warner Bros. Discovery

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