Court to Hold Paramount-Warner Bros. Settlement Conference in Late October

A court will hold a two-day settlement conference in the Paramount-Warner Bros. antitrust case in late October.

The conference is a standard part of civil procedure and does not indicate whether a deal is in the offing. A magistrate judge, Thomas Hixson, has been tasked with overseeing the settlement discussions and to determine whether it will be possible to avoid a trial, which is scheduled for next March in Oakland.

Paramount has been pushing for a deal with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and has been hoping to get it done before Oct. 1. That’s the date that it will begin paying a $7 million daily “ticking fee” to Warner Bros. shareholders.

Bonta, in turn, has said he is open to a settlement but only if it includes “robust structural remedies” — that is, presumably, spinning off a significant chunk of the combined assets.

California and 11 other states allege that the $111 billion merger will illegally reduce competition in the theatrical and basic cable markets, and Bonta has been looking for terms that would address concerns in both markets.

Bonta’s office was set to have settlement discussions with Paramount on Aug. 24, but Bonta canceled the talks the night before, accusing Paramount of leaking details to the press. Paramount denied it, and has since been somewhat quieter about exerting pressure on Bonta to make a deal.

At a scheduling conference on Friday, the parties were ordered to submit dates by next Tuesday that will work for in-person discussions at the end of October.

A settlement could come through the court-supervised process or outside of it. So setting the court settlement conference for late October does not foreclose the possibility of an earlier deal.

Paramount has entered into a stipulation agreeing not to close the transaction until after the trial, which is set for March 2. However, the company subsequently asked a court to require the plaintiffs to put up a $1.88 billion bond to cover the costs of a delay in case the deal is approved.

A hearing on that request is set for Sept. 24. The states have argued that Paramount is seeking to renege the agreement it made to hold off on closing with no bond.