State attorneys general agree to settle Paramount merger lawsuit各州总检察长同意就派拉蒙合并案达成和解
The state attorneys general suing to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, have reached a settlement, moving the companies closer to completing the merger, according to sources involved in the negotiations.
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The state attorneys general suing to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, have reached a settlement, moving the companies closer to completing the merger, according to sources involved in the negotiations.
Paramount and Warner now expect the $110 billion media merger to take effect in early October, one source said.
In exchange for the states dropping their antitrust lawsuit, Paramount will make various commitments, including releasing 30 films per year in theaters and establishing a news editorial independence board for CNN and CBS News.
The settlement will clear the way for Paramount CEO David Ellison to dramatically expand his media empire, with help from his father, Larry Ellison, the billionaire Oracle co-founder.
The merger has been politically fraught in part because Larry is a longtime ally of President Donald Trump and David has cultivated close ties to the Trump White House as he’s pursued opportunities to turn Skydance, his relatively small production company, into a global media giant.
The merger is one of the largest in US history. It is financed with the help of sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi that will indirectly own just under a 50-percent equity stake in the merged Paramount–WBD. Trump’s FCC recently approved Paramount’s request to exceed the standard 25-percent cap on foreign broadcast ownership.
The Writers Guild of America has also agreed to drop its lawsuit blocking the merger.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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据参与谈判的消息人士透露，各州检察长已达成和解，他们此前提起诉讼，试图阻止派拉蒙收购华纳兄弟探索频道（CNN的母公司），这使得两家公司距离完成合并又近了一步。
一位消息人士称，派拉蒙和华纳目前预计这项价值 1100 亿美元的媒体合并案将于 10 月初生效。
作为各州撤销反垄断诉讼的交换条件，派拉蒙将做出多项承诺，包括每年在影院上映 30 部电影，并为 CNN 和 CBS 新闻设立新闻编辑独立委员会。
这项和解协议将为派拉蒙影业首席执行官大卫·埃里森大幅扩张其媒体帝国扫清障碍，而他的父亲、亿万富翁甲骨文公司联合创始人拉里·埃里森也将提供帮助。
此次合并在政治上充满争议，部分原因是拉里是唐纳德·特朗普总统的长期盟友，而大卫为了将他相对较小的制作公司 Skydance 打造成全球媒体巨头，与特朗普白宫建立了密切联系。
此次合并是美国历史上规模最大的合并案之一。沙特阿拉伯、卡塔尔和阿布扎比的主权财富基金为合并提供了资金，这些基金将间接持有合并后的派拉蒙-华纳兄弟公司近50%的股权。特朗普领导下的联邦通信委员会（FCC）近期批准了派拉蒙的申请，允许其突破外国广播公司持股比例25%的上限。
美国编剧工会也同意撤销阻止此次合并的诉讼。
这是一则正在更新的新闻。