Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery has received the go-ahead from the European Union with only minimal undertakings needed to address regulator concerns.
Within 13 months of the deal concluding, Paramount must exit its stake in United International Pictures, its joint distribution venture with Universal, and has agreed for a period of ten years not to:
- enter into any agreement or understanding with Universal to jointly co-distribute films in the EEA;
- shift the distribution of Warner’s films from Warner’s existing distributor to the theatrical distributor used by Paramount, where that distributor also distributes Universal’s or Disney’s films in all UIP countries in the EEA (that is Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden); and
- in the UIP countries in the EEA where Paramount and Universal do not share the same distributor, shift the distribution of Paramount’s films from Paramount’s existing distributor to the theatrical distributor used by Warner, where that distributor also distributes Universal’s or Disney’s films.
In a statement the EU said: “These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission by ensuring that the films of the merged entity will not be distributed jointly with those of Universal or Disney.
“Following the positive feedback received in the context of the market test, the Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.”
The approval is a major success for Paramount, however the company still has to wait for a US court challenge to run its course and is still waiting for a decision from UK regulators.
Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s Chief Legal Officer, said: “Today’s approval from the European Commission marks another significant milestone in bringing Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together.
“We appreciate the Commission’s constructive engagement and thorough analysis throughout its review”.