Calif AG Settlement Talks Reportedly Include PSKY Concessions

Paramount and California’s attorney general have discussed a $1.5 billion California production investment and other concessions in advanced settlement talks that could resolve lawsuits blocking Paramount’s $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Wall Street Journal reports Paramount executives and a coalition of states spent the weekend negotiating a possible agreement that would let the company combine HBO, CBS, CNN, streaming services and major movie studios under one owner.

Beyond the production investment, the parties have discussed a pledge not to sell either studio lot and to remain in California. Paramount had explored leaving the state while the deal faced opposition.

Negotiators have also considered penalties if Paramount fails to keep an earlier promise to make 30 movies a year after the merger.

Opposition to a proposed settlement intensified over the weekend after details emerged that included a bipartisan editorial board to monitor CNN, which Paramount CEO David Ellison would control along with CBS News.

It remained unclear Sunday whether any deal would force Paramount to sell assets, a condition California Attorney General Rob Bonta has repeatedly demanded.

Critics pressed Bonta and other state attorneys general not to accept a settlement that would let Ellison’s $81 billion merger proceed.

The talks are creating divisions among some of the Democratic states that brought the lawsuit two months ago, sources tell CNN.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has been leading the 12-state coalition, has been pressing to strike a settlement deal with Paramount in recent days.

However, some of the states are not yet on board. New York Attorney General Letitia James has been resisting the deal terms and seeking additional protections for workers, according to a person familiar with the matter.