The giant deal between Paramount and Warner Bros. was postponed

The news agencies Reuters and AFP say that the judge of the District Court of Northern California Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued an order on Monday to temporarily suspend the trade after a number of US states filed a lawsuit against the trade.

According to Martínez-Olguín’s order, the companies are not allowed to complete the transaction within the next 14 days. A new hearing in the case will be held on August 3.

With the suit includes California and New York, among others. The states filed the suit on Monday last week. The states have invoked the competition law, because according to them, the deal would weaken competition in the media industry and raise costs.

In his decision, Martínez-Olguín stated that the states had raised “serious questions” in the lawsuit about the possible anti-competitive nature of the trade.

Paramount rejected the claims in the states’ lawsuit. The company has already emphasized that the merger would strengthen competition in relation to streaming services and large technology companies.

The lawsuit brought by the states is a direct challenge to the President of the United States Donald Trump’s administration to the Department of Justice, which accepted the deal in June without demanding changes to its terms.

At the time, it was a significant win for the media mogul who runs Paramount To David Ellison. His father, the founder of the Oracle company Larry Ellison is a longtime ally of Trump.

On the market progress has been closely followed, especially in Hollywood, where workers in the creative industry, such as actors and screenwriters, have opposed the trade and feared it would lead to layoffs and concentration of power in the media industry.

Attorney General of California Rob Bonta described the judge’s temporary order on Monday as a measure he said could ensure the mega-merger does not go ahead.

The Attorney General of the State of New York was also happy with the decision Letitia James.

“Today’s decision is an important victory for all those who would be harmed by the merger,” James said.