Insights: M&A

Mergers & Acquisitions

Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros.

Duration of PI Hearing Informs Odds on Whether Defendants Prevail As discussed in our July 14 update, the amount of time that Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín allots to a preliminary injunction (PI) hearing will influence the odds that one side versus another prevails in obtaining a PI. We believe that the states would be likely to secure a PI if...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín specified at today’s TRO motion hearing that she would rule on the motion before July 22. She may also set a PI schedule before July 22. Our overall sense from watching the hearing is that she is inclined to order a TRO. The Court appears to have interpreted the willingness of defendants to stipulate to an agreement...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros.

A group of 12 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on July 13 seeking to permanently enjoin the proposed merger. The states have also subsequently filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) as defendants have represented to the states that they intend to close the merger as soon as July 22. The states filed their case in the...

Mergers & Acquisitions

The companies received a second request from the FTC on April 24, 2026. The companies have guided to a Q2-2026 or Q3-2026 close. On June 22, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders (HERE and HERE) intended to fast-track U.S. development of advanced quantum computers while forcing federal networks to upgrade their cybersecurity to...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros.

On June 12, the DOJ formally closed its investigation into the merger and published a detailed clearance statement (Clearance Statement). Several news outlets published reports on June 5 that a group of state attorneys general (state AGs) had begun drafting a potential lawsuit challenging the deal. While such a lawsuit may be filed in the coming...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern

We continue to expect that the STB will approve Union Pacific’s (UP) proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern (NS). While the companies’ amended application (AA) is lacking in numerous respects — many of which were flagged in the STB’s recent notice accepting the companies’ application (STB Notice) — they have still made a far more substantive...