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A US judge entered \u200ban order on Wednesday allowing Paramount to close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros, ending a months-long holdup, as the company named Mattel\u2019s Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO to help run the combined business.<\/p>\n
US District Court Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn approved a Sept. 21 settlement with a California-led group of 12 states that had sued to block one of the largest media mergers in history, saying it would create a media behemoth capable of driving up film and \u200cTV prices.<\/p>\n
Under the \u200csettlement, the combined company must release at least \u200b30 \u200cfilms \u2060a \u200byear in \u2060US theaters for five years and spend an extra $300 million a year on US production. Falling short of the film quota could force it to sell Miramax.<\/p>\n
It must also negotiate basic cable deals separately for the two companies\u2019 channels and create a board of journalists to oversee CBS News and CNN.<\/p>\n
Groups opposed to the merger objected strongly to the settlement, with some urging the court \u2060to reject it.<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn called the deal a \u201creasonable factual \u200cand legal resolution,\u201d saying objectors\u2019 hopes for the \u200cdecree \u201cto reach farther \u2013 to achieve more \u2013 do not rise \u200bto the level of legal violations\u201d \u200cwarranting rejection.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice said the settlement \u201cresolves \u200cour antitrust concerns…, protects competition and consumer choice, and centers the needs, concerns, and futures of California workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Paramount spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order.<\/p>\n
The companies also settled a Writers Guild of America antitrust lawsuit, agreeing \u200cto pay $17.5 million to the guild\u2019s health fund and maintain WGA staffing levels at CBS News for five years.<\/p>\n
Mattel\u2019s \u2060Kreiz to become \u2060co-CEO<\/strong><\/p>\n Separately, Paramount said Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will join on October 5 and become co-CEO when the deal closes alongside chairman and CEO David Ellison, running day-to-day operations and integration.<\/p>\n Kreiz, Mattel\u2019s CEO since 2018, turned the toymaker\u2019s brands into films, TV shows and games, delivering \u201cBarbie,\u201d Warner Bros\u2019 highest-grossing film ever.<\/p>\n The hire gives Ellison, whose background is on the creative side, a seasoned operator who steered Mattel through the pandemic and tariffs, as Paramount aims for more than $6 billion in savings from the merger.<\/p>\n Before Mattel, he spent much of his career in TV and digital media, co-founding Fox Kids Europe and \u200brunning \u201cBig Brother\u201d producer Endemol.<\/p>\n He later ran YouTube \u200bnetwork Maker Studios, which he sold to Disney in 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n