Oregon drops bid to delay Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery takeover

Oregon pulled back one of the last state-level brakes on Paramount Skydance’s proposed Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, withdrawing its demand for internal records and its request to delay the closing by 60 days. The move removes a court fight that had threatened to slow a roughly $110 billion to $111 billion deal as it moved toward completion.

Attorney General Dan Rayfield had asked the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland to force Paramount Skydance Corporation to turn over documents within three days of an order and to bar the company from closing the acquisition for 60 days after it substantially complied. The Oregon Department of Justice said the records were tied to its antitrust review, including Paramount’s lobbying efforts and an internal regulatory strategy known as Project Warrior. The state had said Paramount refused to comply with investigative demands and was evading review.

Paramount told Oregon it did not intend to close before July 16, then later said it would not close before July 22. A hearing on Oregon’s motion had been set for Monday, July 14. Oregon withdrew the motion and the records demand on July 10, saying it would consider its next steps. That means the state lost its immediate attempt to secure the documents and to keep the transaction on hold long enough for a fuller review.

The retreat narrows the scrutiny facing a merger that already cleared a major federal hurdle. The filing had pointed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s June 12 closing statement approving the deal, even as Oregon said it was still investigating whether the merger violates antitrust law. With Oregon out of the way for now, the remaining pressure shifts to other states that have been reviewing the transaction, including California, and to any last-minute effort to seek an injunction before the closing date.

For newsroom jobs, local stations and streaming consumers, the practical effect is less state leverage over how Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery organize a combined media company. A 60-day delay would have given regulators more time to examine documents that could show how the company planned to handle lobbying, compliance, station operations and streaming strategy before the merger closed. Without Oregon’s pause request, that scrutiny now depends on whether another state is willing and able to step in before the deal is finalized.