British authorities approve Paramount's Warner Bros. deal

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Set us as preferred British regulators on Thursday cleared tech scion David Ellison’s $111-billion deal to buy Warner Bros.Discovery — the latest international agency to find the blockbuster combination of TV channels and historic film studios wouldn’t dampen competition.Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority and the government’s culture minister separately reviewed Paramount Skydance’s proposed Warner acquisition, which is facing significant turbulence in the U.S.

as California Atty.Gen.

Rob Bonta leads a coalition of state attorneys general who are battling to try to unravel the mammoth deal.“The evidence shows that, after the merger, Paramount will continue to face sufficient competition in the various areas it operates in, including the production and distribution of films and TV content, the supply of children’s channels to pay-TV providers and the supply of streaming services,” the authority said in a statement.Earlier this summer, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy said she was weighing whether to intervene by launching an in-depth investigation into potential harms that could result from the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros.

combination.Nandy opted not to issue an “intervention notice” after striking an agreement with Paramount that provides “assurances and legally-binding commitments” that the company would not abuse its market clout.

Hollywood Inc.‘For US consumers, this merger has become a proxy fight about political influence and control of media,’ according to Forrester Research.

‘In the UK, it’s being treated as a structural competition issue where regulators, not consumers, will decide.’The authority’s approval was significant because Paramount owns CBS News, children’s channel Nickelodeon and Channel 5, one of the largest over-the-...