By Jody Godoy
July 7 (Reuters) – The Oregon attorney general will ask a court to order Paramount to comply with investigative demands related to its $110 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
Paramount intends to close the deal on or immediately after July 16, the state said in documents to be filed in court. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield will seek an expedited hearing on the matter, or an order that would prevent the deal from closing until a hearing can be held, according to the documents.
“The information the Oregon Department of Justice is seeking has nothing to do with whether this transaction complies with Oregon’s antitrust laws and is not a legitimate basis to delay a plainly lawful, pro-competitive transaction,” a Paramount spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The company has provided the state with documents relevant to the merger, the spokesperson added.
The company has said the deal would create a stronger streaming competitor to Netflix and Disney, and benefit creatives and consumers.
California, New York and other U.S. states are preparing to sue to block the deal, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last month. The states have authority to enforce laws against mergers that they believe would unlawfully decrease competition.
Opponents of the deal, including some actors, writers and media workers, have worried that it would hurt jobs.
Oregon is seeking documents regarding “Project Warrior,” which was Paramount’s internal code name for efforts to obtain regulatory clearance. The state is also asking for records related to the company’s efforts to lobby the Trump administration for support of the merger.
Paramount CEO David Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated ties with President Donald Trump, and the company has hired former Trump officials.
The state wants the documents in order to evaluate the U.S. Department of Justice’s clearance of the deal, according to the documents.
While Oregon ordinarily “would afford significant weight” to the DOJ’s determination, the state cited a Wall Street Journal report that officials overrode career staff attorneys at the DOJ who were leaning towards a recommendation to challenge the deal.
The DOJ issued a lengthy statement last month saying it believed the deal would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.”
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sonali Paul)
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