The British government has cleared a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, saying it had received assurances from the company over media diversity.
Merger Details
The UK’s anti-trust regulator said that it had decided not to further investigate the deal, weeks after British culture minister Lisa Nandy said she was considering intervening. The UK’s culture department also said Paramount had provided several assurances, including that it would maintain distinct editorial identities of key services and the editorial independence of news.
The European Union’s decision last month to approve the Paramount-WBD tie-up conditional on Paramount exiting a joint venture with Universal Pictures in the region, alongside other commitments, was also noted. Paramount originally said it expected the merger to take effect by the end of September, but later agreed to delay the deal after a coalition of US state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America both filed lawsuits seeking to block it.
A trial is currently set for March 2027. The delay will prove costly, with Paramount owing over $1 billion in so-called ticking fees before the judge ever rules. Paramount said in a statement that the UK and EU decisions further demonstrate the misguided and gerrymandered market definitions relied upon by the US state attorneys general in their antitrust complaint in California.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
