Justice Department Greenlights Paramount-Warner Bros Merger With No Conditions

BreakingBusinessJustice Department Greenlights Paramount-Warner Bros Merger With No ConditionsByAntonio Pequeño IV,Forbes Staff. Pequeño is a breaking news reporter who covers tech and more.Follow AuthorJun 12, 2026, 07:03pm EDTToplineParamount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was greenlit by the Justice Department on Friday, clearing a massive regulatory hurdle for the $111 billion deal that has garnered scrutiny from some state attorneys general.The merger was cleared by the DOJ on Friday. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesKey FactsThe Justice Department’s antitrust division said in a statement its investigation of the merger found the “transaction is not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers.”The statement also said the division believed the merger would not harm the streaming industry, linear television or the “studio development, production, or distribution of films for theatrical release,” the latter of which became a point of contention when Netflix was in the running to acquire Warner Bros. and was viewed as the company less likely to prioritize theatrical releases.The Justice Department noted in its statement that because Netflix and Paramount were once in a competitive bidding process for Warner Bros., the antitrust division’s review of the competitive impacts of Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. came before the two reached a definitive deal.Paramount has offered $111 billion for Warner Bros. and is specifically looking to acquire the company’s film and television production assets, its streaming platforms like HBO Max and its cable networks including CNN. Forbes has reached out to Paramount for comment. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.vide...