Although approval by regulators and completion of MediaNews' acquisition was announced on August 2, 2006, a lawsuit claiming antitrust violations by MediaNews and the Hearst Corporation had also been filed in July 2006. The suit, which sought to undo the purchase of both the "Mercury News" and the "Contra Costa Times", was scheduled to go to trial on April 30, 2007. While extending until that date a preliminary injunction which prevented collaboration of local distribution and national advertising sales by the two media conglomerates, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on December 19, 2006 expressed doubt over the legality of the purchase. On April 25, 2007, days before the trial was scheduled to begin, the parties reached a settlement in which MediaNews preserved its acquisitions. The "Mercury News" and "Contra Costa Times" were placed under CNP's local subsidiary, the Bay Area News Group. Meanwhile, layoffs continued at the "Mercury News". Around December 2016, 101 employees were laid off, including 40 in the newsroom.