California Seeks to Block Paramount's $110 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover

California is attempting to stop Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Advisers to Paramount CEO David Ellison have discussed moving the company's corporate headquarters out of the state and reallocating $30 billion in planned spending if Attorney General Rob Bonta sues to block the merger.

No decisions have been made on any relocation, according to people familiar with the discussions. Under the current deal terms, Paramount has committed to keeping both companies' lots operational if it remains in California. The company last year signed a lease for nearly 300,000 square feet of studio space in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Paramount proposed a consent decree that would commit the combined company to produce 30 films annually, with a 45-day theatrical release window and a 90-day streaming window, while keeping both the Paramount and Warner Bros. lots open in California. The studio has also committed to $30 billion in annual content spending.

Ellison relocated Paramount's corporate headquarters from New York to Los Angeles after his original deal to purchase the company closed last year. In a statement, Paramount said it continues to engage constructively with regulators and is confident the transaction raises no antitrust concerns, noting that dozens of antitrust authorities around the world have reviewed the deal.