Paramount has agreed to a request from 12 states to link their antitrust lawsuit against the proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to an existing lawsuit filed by Paramount+ subscribers.

The move could place both cases before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin of the Northern District of California. She is already overseeing the subscriber lawsuit.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the coalition of states that filed the merger challenge on Monday. The states argue that the deal could reduce competition in the media industry.

They have also asked the court for a temporary restraining order and an injunction to prevent the merger from closing while the case proceeds.

Why the Cases Could Be Combined

Bonta’s office filed a motion asking the court to relate the state’s lawsuit to the subscriber case filed in April. The subscribers claim the merger could hurt competition and increase prices for consumers.

The states said having one judge handle both lawsuits would improve efficiency and avoid conflicting rulings.

“We like that judge,” Bonta told The Town podcast on Monday. “The fact that the judge is already up to speed, is thinking about this, thinking about its impacts, we like that.”

Paramount joined the request on Tuesday by filing its own motion in support. A company spokesperson declined to comment.

Judge Already Handling Subscriber Lawsuit

Martinez-Olguin is based in Oakland. Before joining the federal bench in 2023, she worked at the National Immigration Law Centre and the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.

She is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday. The hearing will cover the subscribers’ request for a preliminary injunction and Paramount’s motion to dismiss the case.

Initial Assignment: Went to Another Judge

Before the request to combine the cases, the states’ lawsuit was randomly assigned to Judge P. Casey Pitts in San Jose.

Pitts is overseeing another major antitrust case involving the proposed $14 billion merger between Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks.

In January, he denied a request to stop that merger while litigation continued. He noted that the companies had already spent months integrating their operations. A final ruling has not yet been issued.