Judge Extends Emergency Order Pausing Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger - Deadline

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín extended a temporary restraining order pausing the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger by two weeks, preventing the companies from closing the transaction until at least Aug. 17.
In her Thursday ruling, the judge cited "good cause" for the extension, including the need to resolve two preliminary injunction motions and disputes over the schedule and format of the preliminary injunction hearing, along with the defendants' willingness to abide by the TRO's terms.
Paramount has requested a three-day evidentiary hearing, as the judge weighs whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would likely halt the merger for a lengthy period while the legal process unfolds.
The judge directed Paramount and the plaintiffs—a dozen state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America—to "meet and confer" toward a consensus, with a joint report on those discussions due July 24.
Plans for an Aug. 3 hearing remain in place, and the WGA, which filed its own lawsuit to block the merger, will be permitted to participate in that hearing.
The judge noted she cannot extend the original TRO, issued Monday, any further, but said the parties could stipulate to keep the companies apart under an agreed extended briefing and hearing schedule.