Paramount Asks Court to Make Merger Opponents Post Nearly $1.9 Billion Bond

Paramount Skydance has asked a federal judge to require the twelve states and the Writers Guild of America to post a bond of $1,884,726,092.73 by September 30, 2026 — money that would cover Paramount's losses if the court-ordered delay of its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery turns out to have been wrongful.

The motion, filed by Paramount — controlled by David Ellison — asks Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin to modify the stipulation that currently pauses the deal, known in court filings as Docket 170. The bond would be payable to Paramount in the event the company prevails in the antitrust litigation, according to Variety.

The request lands with a deadline attached. Paramount wants the bond posted by the end of September.

The figure is not arbitrary. Paramount agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a "ticking fee" — a penalty that accrues daily when a merger closes late — of roughly $7 million per day starting October 1. Run that clock forward to the scheduled trial conclusion in March 2027, and the ticking fee alone tops $1.2 billion. Add financing costs on top, and Paramount arrives at nearly $1.9 billion. The company cited the Clayton Act and other federal antitrust laws, which it says expressly require plaintiffs to post a bond covering potential harm from halting a transaction to litigate.

The antitrust case itself has a long runway. Judge Martinez-Olguin scheduled a 12-day trial starting March 2, 2027, according to the Daily Journal. That is more than a year of deal limbo, with the ticking fee running every day.

Twelve states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, filed suit on July 13, 2026 to block Paramount's roughly $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. They argue the merger would illegally reduce competition in theatrical and blockbuster film markets and in basic cable television, as Reuters reported. The Writers Guild of America filed its own parallel suit, arguing the deal would shrink the number of buyers for writers' work.

Both cases were consolidated before Judge Martinez-Olguin. When the plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order to pause the merger, the judge granted a 28-day halt but waived the bond requirement, citing that the plaintiff states bring suit to enforce important public interests.

Paramount's new motion pushes back on that waiver directly. If the court orders the bond and the plaintiffs cannot post it, the path could clear for the merger to close.

The courtroom fight is the only thing standing between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal has received regulatory clearance from 68 jurisdictions, including a conditional approval from the European Union on July 22 and a green light from the U.S. Justice Department in June, per Reuters. A separate consumer lawsuit challenging the merger was dismissed by a federal judge on August 5, Variety reported.

What remains are two antitrust suits, one ticking fee, and a bond request that asks the court to put a price on delay.