Paramount will exit its United International Pictures distribution joint venture with Universal as a condition for EU approval of its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The move is in response to a request for Paramount to exit the venture made by the European Commission’s anti-trust watchdog last week. The European Commission said on Wednesday that a regulatory filing in which Paramount Skydance affirms its commitment to pull out of UIP has been submitted, adding that the “new provisional deadline” for the Commission to reach a decision on approval of the mega-merger has now been extended from July 7 to July 22.
UIP, which was formed in 1981 and is based in London, has since been scaled back and is currently active as a distributor in several European territories including Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The megadeal, inked in February after a protracted battle with Netflix, would bring bring together Paramount assets including CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures and Paramount+ with WBD’s HBO and HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN, TNT, TBS, HGTV and more.
