Paramount Skydance just cleared the biggest legal obstacle to its $111B acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery: a 12-state AG antitrust lawsuit (led by California's Rob Bonta) settled on 9/21, and the WGA separately settled its own suit the same week. WBD's CEO told staff the deal is now expected to close no later than early October.

PSKY sold off hard into the uncertainty -- $11.14 to $9.91 (-11%) over 9/16-9/21 on 4x normal volume -- and is rallying today (~+6.5%) now that the legal risk is resolved.

Risk: the settlement still needs a judge's sign-off (described as a formality by multiple outlets, not guaranteed). Paramount took on real concessions to get here (a CNN editorial-independence board, a 30-films/year commitment with financial penalties attached). "Sell the news" into an actual close is a real pattern.