Paramount Skydance Corp.'s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is on track for European Union approval, with the buyer prepared to allay concerns over film distribution flagged by the bloc's competition chief Teresa Ribera.
Paramount is open to an EU demand to ditch a joint venture with Universal Pictures in return for regulatory clearance, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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The Financial Times reported earlier that watchdogs would give the nod provided the remedies were accepted by Paramount. The EU has a current deadline of July 7 to decide whether to escalate its probe or not.
In an Bloomberg TV interview with Ribera earlier on Wednesday, she highlighted concerns over distribution, noting that she wants to make sure there are “alternatives that producers and filmmakers can find” to get their content into movie theaters and homes.
The Spanish socialist added that EU regulators are also exploring whether there “could be limitations in terms of creativity, recognition of cultural heritage, languages and so on,” resulting from Paramount's Warner takeover.
Her comments come just a day after Paramount's lawyers met European Commission enforcers working on the deal in Brussels, where the parties discussed the possibility of concessions to secure EU approval.
A Paramount spokesperson said that the firm has “been engaged with all regulatory and law enforcement bodies in a constructive and transparent manner and will continue to do so.”
EU merger rules give buyers only a short window of opportunity to allay potential competition concerns — if any are flagged — during an initial phase 1 probe. In this case, remedies would have to be filed by the start of July to give officials a chance to test them out during a brief extension period.
The commission could then either clear the tie-up or open a so-called phase 2 probe, delaying a decision by about three months, though deadlines can be extended. Paramount bosses are targeting a closing date in the third quarter of this year, with a rapid review process potentially opening the door for a quicker closure date.
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Scrutiny from the EU's antitrust arm is one of the last obstacles Paramount's David Ellison must overcome after outmaneuvering rival suitor Netflix Inc. with multiple bids over more than five months, visits to Washington, meetings with shareholders and President Donald Trump and the personal backing of his billionaire father Larry Ellison.
The transaction, if approved by regulators, would give the Ellison family control of one of the most powerful media empires in the world. The takeover unites two Hollywood studios behind legendary films from Casablanca and Harry Potter to Mission: Impossible; two major news networks in CNN and CBS; the streaming powerhouse HBO Max and dozens of cable networks.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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