Judge Extends TRO Halting Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Until Mid-August
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín extended the temporary restraining order on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger by two weeks, giving the parties more time to set a schedule for pending injunction motions.
A federal judge has prolonged the temporary restraining order that blocks the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, pushing the earliest possible closing date to after Aug. 17. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, was extended to allow the parties more time to arrange a schedule for two preliminary injunction motions and to resolve disputes over the hearing format.
"I find good cause to extend the TRO on multiple grounds, including the need to resolve two preliminary injunction motions, the parties’ disputes regarding the schedule and the proposed format of the preliminary injunction hearing, and Defendants’ stated willingness to abide by the terms of the TRO for some weeks into the future," the judge wrote.
Paramount has requested a three-day evidentiary hearing, while a dozen state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America, which also sued to block the deal, are expected to participate. The judge ordered the parties to meet and confer on a consensus path forward, with a joint report due July 24. An Aug. 3 hearing remains scheduled, and the judge noted that the original TRO could not be extended further without a new agreement among the parties.