Oregon Drops Bid to Delay Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal, Says Fight Isn't Over

What changed since Friday

Since Paramount announced its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in February, the $110 billion deal has drawn scrutiny from multiple state regulators. On Friday, July 10, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield's office withdrew a motion filed earlier in the week in Multnomah County Court that sought to delay the deal's closing by 60 days, according to filings reported by TheWrap and Indian Television.

The withdrawal moots a hearing that had been scheduled for Monday morning. It does not end Oregon's underlying investigation, which the state's Department of Justice says has been running since the merger was announced.

Why Oregon backed off

Rayfield's office wanted internal Paramount documents tied to a project code-named "Project Warrior," the company's internal effort to secure regulatory approval for the merger. It also wanted records on Paramount's lobbying of federal officials and the company's role in a Department of Justice statement approving the deal, according to TheWrap.

Paramount refused to comply with that records request. Jenny Hansson, communications director for Rayfield, told Deadline and TheWrap that "Paramount made it clear that they weren't going to comply with the investigative demand, and that they think they're above the law. We're not going to let them waste Oregonians' resources on these games. We've withdrawn the motion to consider our next steps."

Oregon has not filed a lawsuit alleging Paramount broke any law by withholding documents. No court has ruled on the merits of the records dispute. What happened is narrower: the state pulled a specific procedural motion rather than litigate it, and its spokesperson used sharp language to explain why.

Paramount's side

Paramount says the fight was never really about antitrust. The company argued in court filings that Oregon's complaint lacked "clear and convincing proof of irreparable harm" and that there was no legal basis to delay the closing, according to TheWrap. Paramount also said the records request "had nothing to do with whether this transaction complies with Oregon's antitrust laws."

On the volume of cooperation, Paramount says it has already turned over more than 822,000 documents to Oregon investigators, with Warner Bros. Discovery providing another 1.2 million. A Paramount spokesperson told TheWrap and Reuters, "We are pleased that the Oregon Attorney General has withdrawn its motion to delay this transaction. It was the right decision and avoids an unwarranted effort to delay a lawful, pro-competitive merger."

Paramount's strongest argument is straightforward: it produced roughly two million pages of material, the specific documents Oregon wanted concerned lobbying strategy rather than competitive harm, and no judge has found the state's antitrust theory persuasive enough to justify halting a deal that's already cleared the U.S. Department of Justice and Warner Bros. shareholders.

The political backdrop

Paramount is controlled by David and Larry Ellison, both prominent supporters of President Trump, and The Verge notes the two have what it calls a "cozy relationship with the White House." During the merger review, Trump publicly criticized Netflix, Paramount's chief rival for Warner Bros. Discovery, a comment The Verge flagged as relevant context.

This is a documented statement from a sitting president about a competing bidder during a live merger review. Critics have asked whether political pressure shaped the regulatory environment around this merger. However, this statement is not evidence of what's in the withheld Paramount documents, and no source here shows Oregon's investigators have proof the lobbying records contain wrongdoing.

What's still pending

Oregon isn't the only state circling. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and officials in New York are reportedly considering their own action, and Reuters has reported some states could move as early as this coming week on competition grounds, according to Indian Television. Regulators in the UK are also weighing a challenge.

Internationally, the deal has already cleared antitrust reviews in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Ukraine, Montenegro, New Zealand and North Macedonia, with foreign investment authorities in Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Czechia, Italy, France and Romania also signing off, per TheWrap.

The next hard deadline is the European Commission, which is set to decide by July 22 whether to clear the merger outright or refer it to a deeper Phase 2 investigation. Paramount has said it won't close the deal before that date. Hollywood labor groups, including actors, writers and directors who signed a letter opposing the acquisition, are still pushing regulators to slow it down over fears of industry consolidation and job losses. Whether any state actually files suit to block the deal, rather than just investigate it, will determine whether Oregon's retreat this week turns out to matter.