European Union regulators are studying Paramount Skydance’s prospective takeover of Warner Bros.Discovery over the deal’s financial backing from three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, according to a public filing.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The inquiry, publicly confirmed Wednesday, deepens the scrutiny of a corporate tie-up that would unite two historic Hollywood studios under the same roof and reshape the American entertainment industry.Paramount, which agreed to buy Warner in February for $110 billion, requested E.U.
approval of the deal under the bloc’s foreign subsidies regulation.The European Commission, the E.U.’s competition enforcement arm, said it will decide by Sunday whether to sign off on the merger or open a full investigation.In an April filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, Paramount said its acquisition of Warner is backed in part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi’s L’IMAD Holding and the Qatar Investment Authority.Together, the three Gulf sovereign wealth funds are putting up roughly $24 billion, according to a filing Warner submitted to the SEC in December.Paramount has said the combined company would be fully controlled by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s family and RedBird Capital Partners, an investment management firm based in the United States.Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the E.U.’s review.The European Union is not the only entity looking into the blockbuster deal between Paramount and Warner.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the United Kingdom’s antitrust authority are also investigating the transaction.The corporate tie-up needs formal sign-off from the Justice Department, too.“Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal,” Bonta said in a post on X in late February.
“These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the Californi...