Paramount Skydance said Friday that the federal antitrust waiting period tied to its $108 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery has expired, clearing a key procedural hurdle as it races to displace Netflix in a high-stakes contest for one of Hollywood’s biggest media groups.
In a regulatory filing, Paramount said it had complied with the Justice Department’s second-request review process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, allowing the statutory waiting period to lapse.
Paramount said the expiration means there is no statutory impediment in the United States to closing its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the Financial Times.
The milestone does not constitute formal approval and does not prevent the government from later suing to block a transaction.
The Federal Trade Commission’s merger review guidance describes how agencies can continue evaluating competitive effects through and beyond the HSR process, and Justice Department antitrust official Bill Rinner has publicly warned that some advisers wrongly treat expiration of the waiting period as clearance.
Paramount’s bid is bankrolled by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a donor to President Donald Trump, and the development is likely to be read across the industry as a sign the administration is not moving to slow the Paramount process at this stage.
Paramount still needs to persuade Warner Bros. Discovery’s board and shareholders to back its proposal.
Warner Bros. Discovery gave Paramount a seven-day period ending Feb. 23 to make a "best and final offer" or walk away.
Netflix, meanwhile, is facing an early-stage Justice Department review of its $83 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, a process that could culminate in a lawsuit to block the transaction.
"Paramount Skydance continues to mislead stockholders and distract from the facts," Netflix Chief Legal Officer David Hyman said Friday. "Routine HSR milestones do not signal DOJ approval nor that any decision has been made."
Paramount said it continued to engage with antitrust enforcers and other regulators abroad, where scrutiny is expected to be more intensive, including in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The bidding fight has also moved onto political terrain.
Business Insider reported Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Puck's "The Town" podcast that his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump have focused on keeping jobs in America and that Trump "wants to know what happened in California," in the context of California film and TV production decline.
Paramount’s proposed deal has drawn scrutiny from Senate Democrats.
A group of Democratic senators led by Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged Paramount CEO David Ellison to preserve records tied to the proposed transaction, writing that the deal raised significant competition concerns that the Senate had not had an opportunity to examine.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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