The Paramount-Warner Bros. Clock Is Ticking: What’s Next for the Megamerger Amid Antitrust Battle With States?

Jul 23, 2026 1:13pm PT The Paramount-Warner Bros. Clock Is Ticking: What’s Next for the Megamerger Amid Antitrust Battle With States?

By Todd Spangler

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Todd Spangler

NY Digital Editor

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David Ellison may have believed Paramount Skydance could have closed the $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by this point. The deal was blessed by the Justice Department in June (reportedly over the objections of staffers who were reviewing it). It has been officially cleared by the EU, with Paramount agreeing to the relatively minor concession of ending its film distribution partnership with Universal in Europe.

Indeed, Ellison and his team at Paramount were so confident they would easily cruise through regulatory approvals that they sweetened their offer for Warner Bros. Discovery with a “ticking fee” provision — which will pay WBD shareholders 25 cents per quarter for each quarter past Sept. 30, 2026, that Paramount-Warner Bros. doesn’t close. That amounts to about $7 million per day. So if the calendar flips over to Oct. 1 and the WBD merger is not a done deal, Paramount is looking at shelling out real money.