Paramount Skydance received approval – with limitations – from UK regulators Thursday as it pursues its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, marking one more step towards completing the deal.
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority cleared the pending acquisition, ruling a Paramount-Warner tie up does not pose a “substantial lessening of competition” in the country, AP reports.
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy previously said she was “minded to intervene” in the merger.
Then on on Thursday her office flagged Paramount agreed to “provide a set of protections” to safeguard the “continued availability of a diverse range of broadcasting and on-demand services in the UK,” as well their editorial independence.
In a statement, Nandy said, “Today, the Competition and Markets Authority have announced their decision that there are no competition aspects of this proposed merger in the U.K. which necessitate their further intervention.”
As such, the AP report notes Paramount agreed to not combine its linear channels with on-demand services in the U.K. and children’s channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network will remain distinct from each other while it would not combine HBO Max with Paramount+
Including billions in debt, Paramount’s proposed purchase of Warner is valued at nearly $81 billion based on outstanding shares.
AP outlined, while Paramount and Warner no longer face an imminent roadblock to their deal in the U.K., the companies have already agreed to delay closing their transaction well into 2027 as a challenge from 12 U.S. states makes its way through court.