Huntington Beach, CA – October 11: Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks about the oil spill response in Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has cancelled talks to settle the case over Paramount’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. This follows the rising tension between Paramount and a coalition of state attorneys general seeking to block the acquisition on antitrust grounds as anticompetitive.
The meeting had been scheduled for Monday but was called off late Sunday after Bonta accused Paramount of leaking details from a settlement discussion held on Friday. The California attorney general also alleged that the company misrepresented the substance of those discussions, raising further concerns about the possibility of reaching an agreement.
Why did Rob Bonta cancel talks with Paramount?
According to Bonta, Paramount had undermined the whole process of settling the case, having leaked information about the discussions held on Friday. Bonta stated in a statement to The New York Times:…