Paramount-Warner Merger Investigated By UK Competition Watchdog
The UK’s antitrust authority has launched a formal investigation into the $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday that it had opened a “merger inquiry” into the deal that will reshape the global entertainment industry.
The CMA will commence its so-called Phase 1 investigation from Wednesday, under which it will determine whether the Paramount-Warner pact poses a “realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.”
The CMA intends to conclude the Phase 1 process by August 7. If the threshold is met, the competition watchdog will move to a deeper Phase 2 investigation, which can last for more than five months.
If the CMA does proceed to a more detailed analysis, it will raise serious questions about Paramount’s ambition to close the WBD takeover in the third quarter of this year.
The CMA opened the Phase 1 investigation after initially seeking comments on the deal in April.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison visited the UK earlier this year as part of a charm offensive of European regulators. He met with UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy, as well as prominent European creatives.
More follows.
