The European Union’s antitrust regulator announced on Wednesday that it had approved the agreement. paramount skydance acquisition proposal of warner bros discovery.
The approval includes concessions from Paramount and comes as a deal in the U.S. has been delayed due to concerns raised by state attorneys general.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced that Paramount had agreed to sell its stake in a film distribution joint venture with United International Pictures in Europe to gain approval, and said it would not have a film distribution deal with Universal in Europe for the next 10 years.
“These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the European Commission by ensuring that the combined entity’s films will not be co-distributed with Universal or Disney,” the EU release said.
Paramount stock rose about 2% in afternoon trading.
EU approval is a major regulatory milestone for the $110 billion merger plan.
The deal had previously received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Various other global jurisdictions have also signed the agreement.
“With clearance from the European Commission, institutions and governments representing 65 jurisdictions have either permitted this transaction or have chosen not to object on competition and/or foreign direct investment grounds,” Paramount said in a release Wednesday.
“These grants recognize that the combination of Paramount and WBD will enhance consumer choice and enable creative-first companies to invest in more projects and deliver stories to audiences around the world,” Paramount said in a statement. “This will create media and entertainment companies of scale that can compete with the tech companies that have come to dominate the industry, strengthening the media ecosystem and creating more opportunities for creators both in front of and behind the camera.”
The approval comes amid a lawsuit filed last week by a group of U.S. state attorneys general that could block the deal going forward.
A coalition led by Rob Bonta of California filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, citing antitrust concerns. The partnership will bring together two major movie studios, Paramount and Warner Bros., a large portfolio of pay-TV networks, and streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+.
Earlier this week, a district judge in California granted a temporary restraining order halting all actions to move forward with the merger for 14 days.
“The conclusions reached by the Commission directly contradict the key premises supporting the state’s motion to block the transaction,” Paramount said in a statement.
Paramount previously said it expected to complete the merger by the end of September.
