The European Commission, acting as the EU's antitrust regulator, has found no obstacles to the acquisition of media holding Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) by Paramount Skydance for $110 billion. This was reported by Reuters on the evening of Wednesday, July 22.
As stated by the EC, the regulator officially confirmed the absence of objections after Paramount Skydance proposed to terminate the operations of United International Pictures (UIP) — a joint venture with Universal Pictures for film distribution — in Europe within 13 months after the deal closes.
According to the agreement, Paramount Skydance will not enter into any film distribution deals with Universal in Europe for 10 years and will not transfer the rights to distribute Warner films in theaters to its own distributor.
Suspension of the deal in the U.S.
Last week in the U.S., the WBD acquisition was suspended for 14 days by a decision of Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin of the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California. The court granted a joint motion by the attorneys general of 12 states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who expressed concerns that the merger would harm competition in the film distribution and content licensing market.
Obstacles and consequences of the merger
The WBD holding includes the Warner Bros. film studio, the HBO television network, and services and channels such as CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery. Upon closing the deal, the film studios, streaming platforms, and news organizations will come under the control of David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Previously, NBC News noted that Donald Trump had spoken highly of the Ellison family and called for a change in the ownership of CNN.
The Writers Guild of America also filed a lawsuit against the merger, citing a threat to writers' earnings. Last month, authorities in the United Kingdom also indicated potential intervention in the situation due to concerns regarding news and children's programming.
Source: dw.com