A Delaware judge has declined to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) yesterday that would have stalled the US$8-billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. 

Filed by a group of New York City pension funds last month, this case sought to challenge Paramount for breaching its fiduciary duties to shareholders by refusing to consider a US$13.5-billion bid from LA-based investor group Project Rise Partners earlier in January. Paramount argued that the all-cash deal had come in too late, and that the company was already contractually bound to Skydance’s offer. 

While Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick rejected the TRO request, she did agree that the pension fund group demonstrated there was irreparable harm present in the deal, and she intends to rule on an injunction before the merger’s expected closing date on April 7. She has also ordered Paramount and Skydance to give the court notice if the ongoing FCC process will extend the closing date by 90 days, or if the deal were to close earlier, so that the group could renew its TRO motion. 

Following the order, Project Rise submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in Delaware in support of the New York City pension funds’ efforts to stop the merger. The investor group was formed by Malka Investment Trust and Rise Beyond in October 2024 with the sole purpose of acquiring Paramount.