Paramount says US antitrust waiting period on Warner Bros bid has expired

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Paramount said ‌on Friday ​the ​U.S. antitrust waiting period for its $108.4 billion all-cash bid for Warner Bros Discovery expired on February ‌19, marking a milestone on the road to ⁠a potential deal to acquire the owner of HBO Max.

The company ‌said this "means there is no ‌statutory impediment in the U.S. to closing Paramount's proposed acquisition of WBD," but the expiration of the 10-day ​waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act does not end the U.S. Department of Justice's review.

The DOJ can continue ⁠investigating the deal, request more information and still sue to block the transaction ​before it closes.

In 2023, the department sued to block the proposed JetBlue-Sprint merger months after the ​waiting period had expired.

Paramount, however, does ‌not have a definitive agreement with Warner Bros, which has signed a deal with Netflix ⁠that has offered to buy the studios and streaming assets for $27.75 per share, or $82.7 billion.

"Paramount Skydance continues to mislead stockholders and ⁠distract from the facts," Netflix chief legal officer, David Hyman, said.

"They ​have not secured approvals needed to close and they are a long way from doing so."

The Netflix deal will also face intense ‌scrutiny from U.S. and European competition authorities, who must assess whether combining the company's global ‌streaming power with Warner Bros Discovery's century-old studio assets would ⁠reduce competition or limit ‌consumer choice.

(Reporting by Harshita ​Mary Varghese in Bengaluru and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Alan ‌Barona)

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