US approval of Paramount/Warner Bros. deal surprised DOJ lawyers, report says
US approval of Paramount/Warner Bros. deal surprised DOJ lawyers, report says
报道称：美国司法部批准派拉蒙与华纳兄弟合并，令内部律师感到意外
When the US Department of Justice approved Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, a DOJ press release said “a rigorous eight-month investigation led by the [Antitrust] Division’s career staff” showed that the $111 billion deal would not harm competition or American consumers. 当美国司法部于周五批准派拉蒙天空之舞（Paramount Skydance）对华纳兄弟探索公司（Warner Bros. Discovery）的收购提议时，司法部在一份新闻稿中称，由该部门反垄断部门职业人员领导的“为期八个月的严格调查”显示，这笔 1110 亿美元的交易不会损害竞争或美国消费者的利益。
But according to The Wall Street Journal, the DOJ career lawyers who led that investigation “were leaning toward recommending a lawsuit challenging it on the grounds that the combination of the two movie studios would be anticompetitive and violate antitrust law.” DOJ senior leaders closed the investigation “before career staffers who were concerned about the objection had an opportunity to object, according to people familiar with the matter,” the WSJ reported. 但据《华尔街日报》报道，负责此次调查的司法部职业律师们“倾向于建议提起诉讼，理由是这两家电影制片厂的合并将产生反竞争影响并违反反垄断法”。据知情人士向《华尔街日报》透露，司法部高层在“那些对收购持保留意见的职业人员有机会提出异议之前”就结束了调查。
Commenting on the report that the decision to allow the deal surprised staff investigators, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote that “the American people need to know if this merger was approved as a political favor. This reeks of corruption.” 针对有关“批准该交易的决定令内部调查人员感到意外”的报道，马萨诸塞州民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren）评论称：“美国人民需要知道，这次合并是否是作为一种政治恩惠被批准的。这散发着腐败的气息。”
Staff investigators hadn’t yet made a final recommendation to DOJ leaders but were questioning “how the combined company could meet its commitment to make 30 theatrical releases a year, given its increased debt load,” the WSJ wrote. Even if DOJ staff investigators had submitted a formal recommendation to challenge the lawsuit in federal court, leadership could have rejected the recommendation and approved the deal anyway. Senior DOJ leaders “believed Paramount’s debt wasn’t a reason to challenge the merger,” the WSJ wrote. 《华尔街日报》写道，调查人员尚未向司法部领导层提交最终建议，但他们一直在质疑“考虑到合并后公司债务负担加重，它将如何履行每年发行 30 部院线电影的承诺”。即使调查人员提交了在联邦法院提起诉讼的正式建议，领导层也完全可以拒绝该建议并批准交易。据《华尔街日报》报道，司法部高层“认为派拉蒙的债务并不是挑战此次合并的理由”。
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr previously expressed support for the deal even though it needs an FCC waiver because it involves large equity stakes from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. 联邦通信委员会（FCC）主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）此前曾表示支持该交易，尽管该交易涉及沙特阿拉伯、阿拉伯联合酋长国和卡塔尔主权财富基金的大额股权，需要获得 FCC 的豁免。
Ellison wins over Trump admin
埃里森赢得特朗普政府支持
US Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. questioned the WSJ article’s sources in a post directed at Journal reporter Sadie Gurman. “A team of career lawyers never reached out to anyone in their leadership chain of command to express this, but instead reached out to you? Please let your anonymous sources know that my door is always open,” he wrote. 美国副司法部长斯坦利·伍德沃德（Stanley Woodward Jr.）在发给《华尔街日报》记者萨迪·古尔曼（Sadie Gurman）的帖子中质疑了该报道的消息来源。他写道：“一个职业律师团队从未向他们的领导层表达过这些意见，反而联系了你？请转告你的匿名消息来源，我的大门永远敞开。”
The WSJ’s anonymous sources indicated that a meeting with David Ellison helped convince DOJ leaders to approve the deal. “The Justice Department’s senior leaders believed that Paramount Chief Executive Officer David Ellison, son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, persuasively addressed many of the staff’s questions about the deal during a two-hour interview last month, according to people familiar with their thinking,” the article said. 《华尔街日报》的匿名消息来源指出，与大卫·埃里森（David Ellison）的一次会面促使司法部领导层批准了该交易。文章称：“据知情人士透露，司法部高层认为，派拉蒙首席执行官大卫·埃里森（特朗普盟友拉里·埃里森之子）在上个月的一次两小时访谈中，令人信服地回答了工作人员关于该交易的许多疑问。”
We contacted the DOJ today and will update this article if it provides a response. Warner Bros. previously had a merger agreement with Netflix and criticized the Paramount offer as “illusory” because it required an “extraordinary amount of debt financing.” Paramount continued its attempt at a hostile takeover and eventually won a bidding war. 我们今天联系了司法部，如果收到回复，我们将更新本文。华纳兄弟此前曾与 Netflix 达成合并协议，并批评派拉蒙的报价是“虚幻的”，因为它需要“巨额债务融资”。派拉蒙坚持进行敌意收购，并最终赢得了竞标战。
David Ellison reportedly told Trump administration officials that he would make big changes at the Warner-owned CNN, one of President Trump’s least favorite news sources. 据报道，大卫·埃里森曾告诉特朗普政府官员，他将对华纳旗下的 CNN 进行重大改革，而 CNN 是特朗普总统最不喜欢的媒体之一。
The DOJ’s antitrust division used to be led by Trump nominee Gail Slater, who pushed for tougher enforcement. Last year, Slater issued an unusual statement criticizing a T-Mobile/US Cellular deal that was approved by the DOJ. Slater resigned from her post as assistant attorney general in February amid reports that she was forced to leave because of disputes with key特朗普 officials. Slater’s replacement, Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, insisted in an interview with Reuters in March that the Paramount/Warner deal will not be fast-tracked for approval because of political factors. “The idea that somehow enforcement has been politicized is ludicrous,” he said. 司法部反垄断部门曾由特朗普提名的盖尔·斯莱特（Gail Slater）领导，她主张更严格的执法。去年，斯莱特发表了一份不同寻常的声明，批评了司法部批准的一项 T-Mobile 与 US Cellular 的交易。今年 2 月，在有报道称她因与特朗普政府关键官员发生争执而被逼离职后，斯莱特辞去了助理司法部长的职务。斯莱特的继任者、代理助理司法部长奥米德·阿塞菲（Omeed Assefi）在 3 月接受路透社采访时坚称，派拉蒙与华纳的交易不会因政治因素而获得快速批准。他说：“认为执法被政治化的想法是荒谬的。”
DOJ says merger will boost competition
司法部称合并将促进竞争
The DOJ announcement of its approval said the deal is likely to increase competition in the streaming video market “by offering consumers a more robust competitive alternative” to the larger offerings. The deal would combine Paramount+ with HBO Max. The DOJ also said the merger is unlikely to harm competition in the market for development, production, and distribution of theatrical films. “Instead, the evidence shows extensive competition within the industry, which has generated greater output and diversity of film offerings, and is likely to continue unabated,” the DOJ announcement said. 司法部在批准公告中表示，该交易可能会通过“为消费者提供更强大的竞争选择”来增加流媒体视频市场的竞争。此次交易将把 Paramount+ 与 HBO Max 合并。司法部还表示，此次合并不太可能损害院线电影开发、制作和发行市场的竞争。司法部公告称：“相反，证据表明行业内存在广泛竞争，这带来了更多的产出和更多样化的电影选择，并且这种趋势很可能会持续下去。”
Although Paramount won over federal regulators, it will likely have to fight a lawsuit from California, New York, and other US states. The states reportedly plan to file a lawsuit seeking to block the merger in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, European Union regulators are scrutinizing the deal’s financing and impacts on competition. 尽管派拉蒙赢得了联邦监管机构的支持，但它很可能仍需应对来自加利福尼亚州、纽约州和其他美国州的诉讼。据报道，这些州计划在未来几周内提起诉讼，寻求阻止此次合并。与此同时，欧盟监管机构正在审查该交易的融资情况及其对竞争的影响。
US states also diverged with the Trump administration in a fight against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary. The Biden-era Department of Justice and most US states sued Live Nation in 2024, but the Trump administration blindsided state attorneys general in the middle of the resulting trial by agreeing to stop its pursuit of a breakup. The states continued the litigation after the Trump administration dropped out, and they won the trial. A federal jury ruled in April that Live Nation and Ticketmaster operate an illegal monopoly that overcharged fans for tickets. There is a separate proceeding to determine damages and potential remedies, which could include a breakup of the company. 各州在针对 Live Nation 及其子公司 Ticketmaster 的斗争中也与特朗普政府产生了分歧。拜登时期的司法部和大多数州在 2024 年起诉了 Live Nation，但特朗普政府在随后的审判过程中，通过同意停止寻求拆分公司，令各州总检察长措手不及。在特朗普政府退出后，各州继续进行诉讼并赢得了审判。今年 4 月，联邦陪审团裁定 Live Nation 和 Ticketmaster 经营着非法垄断业务，向粉丝收取过高票价。目前还有单独的程序来确定赔偿和潜在的补救措施，其中可能包括拆分该公司。