Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is getting closer to being approved in Europe, with Brussels set to approve the $111 billion deal if the company to check boxes set by the European Commission.
The antitrust enforcing group met with the two companies on Tuesday to discuss the conditions of the approval, according to a report from the Financial Times.
According to two sources, “the remedies could include a requirement for Paramount to exit its joint venture with Universal Pictures, which distributes films in several international markets. They cautioned that a final decision had yet to be taken.”
The deal was confirmed in February, following a long fight with Netflix, after Netflix entered into an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets. Instead, Paramount came in with a massive offer to take over all of the company’s assets, including Warner Bros. Discovery’s linear television networks in addition to the studio and streaming assets. A merger would put many major media assets under one umbrella, including HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN, TNT, TBS, HGTV, and more.
The merger was approved by shareholders in April and approved by the DOJ earlier this month, after it was determined that the deal did not pose a threat to competition. California and New York are planning to fight that decision with a lawsuit and last week, three Democratic senators asked the FCC to hold off on approving the deal until an investigation could look into whether foreign investments in the company could pose a threat.
Meanwhile, the European Commission now has until July 7 either approve the deal or deny it until it can be further reviewed. However, Reuters reports that exiting the Universal joint venture would extend that deadline to July 21.
