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Warner Bros. and Paramount stock rallied on reports that Paramount's talks with California officials have been finalized

Warner Bros. and Paramount stock rallied on reports that Paramount's talks with California officials have been finalized

Both stocks jumped about 7% Monday morning after reports that Paramount Skydance and the California attorney general met to discuss a settlement.

Media Stocks Jump as Paramount Seeks Breakthrough in Merger Fight

Shares of Paramount (NASDAQ:PSKY) and Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) rose in premarket trading on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported progress in negotiations aimed at resolving legal opposition to their proposed $81 billion merger.

AI-linked stocks rose in the U.S. premarket and stocks rose across the globe as the continued fall in oil prices boosted market sentiment.

Investing.com -- Shares of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery climbed after the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Paramount and California’s attorney general have made progress in settlement talks over the company’s proposed $81 billion merger with Warner Bros.

Paramount executives and a coalition of states that sued to block its $81 billion merger with Warner Bros spent the weekend hashing out the details of a possible settlement. Among the concessions that have been discussed by Paramount and California's attorney general is a $1.

The company has discussed a series of concessions as part of advanced settlement talks with a coalition of state attorneys general, hoping to clear a path for its $81 billion Warner Bros. deal.

Critics of the $111-billion Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. urged California Atty. Gen. Bonta and other state attorneys general to disregard pressure to reach a settlement.

A resolution would allow David Ellison's $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery to finalize

Paramount is in advanced settlement talks with California officials aimed at resolving the antitrust lawsuit that stands in the way of the company’s $81 billion deal to acquire rival Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter. A dozen Democratic-led states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued in July to block the deal on antitrust grounds, arguing that the combination of Paramount and Warner would create too much concentration in the markets for theatrical films and cable television channels.

California and 11 other states sued in July to block the $81 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.

As Paramount looks to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s racked up billions of dollars in financial backing from three Gulf countries. The FCC cleared the way on Thursday, granting sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to hold indirect equity interests in a Paramount-Warner combo, but no voting stakes. Skydance-owned Paramount — whose $81 billion merger with Warner is still on hold amid a separate antitrust battle with twelve states and Hollywood writers — welcomed the FCC's ruling.

US equity indexes ended higher Thursday as government bond yields dropped after the Federal Reserve

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery long-awaited merger has been at a standstill. Barclays analysts led by Kannan Venkateshwar resumed coverage of both stocks, rating Warner Bros at Equal Weight with a $28 price target and Paramount at Underweight with a $8 price target. Venkateshwar said in a research note Thursday that while the proposed $110 billion merger could increase growth potential for the studios, it could introduce massive financial and operational risks that make the stock hard to value, and “a moving target.”

Barclays sees streaming and studio growth potential in the Paramount-Warner deal but flags execution, deleveraging, and potential restructuring challenges as legal hurdles remain.

Beginning Oct. 14, the two sides will try to reach a deal that will allow the massive merger to advance.

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The Paramount CEO’s pledge would defy economic pressures but has helped win support for the company’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros.

David Ellison needed more legal muscle. After Paramount suffered a bruising July hearing in its fight with a coalition of state attorneys general trying to block its $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Ellison picked up the phone and called a lawyer used to hearing from CEOs in a jam: Beth Wilkinson. Wilkinson has successfully defended the National Football League and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer as well as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh against accusations of sexual assault in his confirmation hearings, making her a go-to trial lawyer in high-stakes cases.

Bloomberg's Hannah Miller joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Paramount has acknowledged that it's considering a wide range of options to settle lawsuits challenging its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Rob Bonta said Paramount is more focused on the “court of public opinion” than the court of law in the Warner merger fight.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Tuesday there are no ‌settlement talks scheduled with Paramount Skydance to resolve the ‌antitrust suit seeking to block the studio's proposed $110 billion acquisition of ​Warner Bros Discovery. Bonta said he canceled a scheduled Monday meeting after details of confidential settlement discussions leaked to the press, which he said was "unacceptable." "If they are willing to clean ‌things up .... and ⁠engage in a way that is sincere and in good faith, we will be where ⁠we always will be with any party in any case that we're involved in, which is happy to meet," ​Bonta said ​at a press conference on ​public safety issues.

Stocks were mixed in late-morning trading Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up and the S

The two sides were scheduled to discuss a settlement of a multistate antitrust lawsuit aiming to block the Paramount-Warner merger.

According to a report by The New York Times, California Attorney General Rob Bonta canceled Monday’s settlement meeting with Paramount over its proposed WBD acquisition.