Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved David Ellison-led Paramount Skydance’s planned $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The merger watchdog, considering the megadeal on theatrical film distribution grounds, concluded although “the parties compete closely, they do not appear closer to each other than to Universal, Disney, or Sony. While the merged entity would become the UK’s largest distributor, it would continue to face competition from these three major studios and a range of other smaller studios.”
When it came to streaming services, the CMA cited “other competitors (Netflix, Apple, Disney and Amazon Prime), as well as non-SVOD services such as broadcast video on demand services (BBC iPlayer and ITVX), will continue to provide sufficient competition to the merged entity. Sufficient competitive constraints will also remain post-merger in the other areas in which the partiesoverlap, including in relation to the production and licensing of AV content.”
Paramount, as it passes another milestone to completion of its proposed merger, in a statement said it was “grateful to the CMA for its constructive engagement and its review of the transaction.” The UK ruling also comes in the face of Paramount having won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix declined to raise its offer, but the merger is now on pause after Paramount was hit with several lawsuits.
