Paramount offers EU concessions to gain approval for WBD takeover

A European Commission regulatory filing confirmed that Paramount had filed new commitments on June 30 but didn’t give specific details.

The commission has extended its provisional deadline for its decision to July 22, from July 7, to give itself ⁠time to assess the new commitments.

Last week, reports said that Paramount would pull out of its United International Pictures film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures to help win approval for the deal.

In the United States, the Department of Justice has cleared Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery. However, Paramount could face lawsuits in states such as California and ⁠New York to block the deal.

This week, UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she was “minded” to task the communications regulator Ofcom with looking at the impact of the merger on media plurality.

In a statement, Paramount said: “We can confirm that today we have submitted a remedy to the European Commission. We have been working constructively with the commission for eight months and are confident that this remedy directly and comprehensively addresses any concerns expressed in the European Commission’s preliminary assessment and supports the path for timely clearance.”

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published the commencement notice for its investigation of Paramount Skydance’s anticipated acquisition of WBD, marking the official beginning of the inquiry. Discover more here.