Federal antitrust investigators have begun issuing subpoenas as part of a widening review of Paramount Skydance merger, three people familiar with the matter said.
The subpoenas signal a move forward in the Justice Department Antitrust Division review of the proposed transaction valued at about $110 billion. Investigators are requesting materials that bear on a range of competitive issues, according to the people, including how the tie-up would influence the studios output and the allocation of content rights across platforms.
Sources said the Department of Justice is also probing how the deal would affect competition among streaming services. Two of the sources added that the inquiry extends to potential consequences for movie theaters.
Market participants in Hollywood and on Wall Street are watching closely. Those parties view the transaction as high-stakes for industry structure and employment: if the merger clears, it could result in a contraction of jobs; if blocked, Paramount could face a roughly $7 billion cost tied to the transaction.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the subpoenas. Paramount whose legal team has publicly signaled preparedness for regulatory review has acknowledged that scrutiny was likely. Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim said at an antitrust conference in Washington on Wednesday that Paramount had been expecting authorities in many places to review the deal.
At present, investigators are seeking detailed documentation and information that would allow them to assess how the proposed consolidation would reshape content availability, distribution dynamics and competitive incentives across studios, streaming platforms and theatrical exhibitors. The exact scope and duration of the inquiry were not specified by the sources, and no formal enforcement action has been announced.
Context note: The subpoenas reflect an active phase of the regulatory review process for a large-scale media merger and underscore the range of competition issues federal enforcers are examining.