Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has ended his effort to force a pause in Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to reports from Deadline and Variety. Rayfield had been seeking internal documents from Paramount and asked a state circuit court judge to hold up the closing of the transaction for 60 days while his office reviewed the material.
The records request focused on Paramount’s lobbying activity, which the company referred to under the codename “Project Warrior.” But after Paramount declined to comply with the investigative demand, Rayfield’s office withdrew the motion and said it would consider its next steps instead, according to communications director Jenny Hansson.
Hansson said the company had made clear it would not provide the documents and argued that Paramount believed it was above the law. She added that the office did not want to spend Oregon resources on what it viewed as procedural games. Paramount, for its part, is said to welcome the withdrawal.
Rayfield’s move comes as other officials and governments continue to examine the merger on antitrust grounds, including in California, New York, and the United Kingdom. The deal has also drawn criticism from parts of Hollywood. The report notes that Paramount is led by David and Larry Ellison, who have close ties to Donald Trump, and that Trump has publicly warned Netflix, Paramount’s rival bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery, about possible consequences if it did not remove Susan Rice from its board.
Source: theverge.com
