European Union
July 22, 2026
The European Commission — the economic trade group representing 28 countries — has approved the proposed $111 billion equity acquisition by Paramount of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The approval is conditional upon full compliance with commitments offered by Paramount, which include termination of the company’s stake in a theatrical distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures — United International Pictures — within 13 months from the closing of the transaction. Not doing so the Commission said could lead to worse rental and distribution terms for theater operators, and ultimately disadvantage consumers.
Paramount would also not, directly or indirectly, enter into any agreement or understanding with Universal to jointly co-distribute films in EU for 10 years.
The media company would also not move distribution of Warner movies from their existing distributor to the theatrical distributor used by Paramount, where that distributor also distributes Universal’s or Disney’s films in the EEA (that is Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden).
Paramount would also not shift the distribution of its films to the distributor used by Warner, where that distributor also distributes Universal or Disney’s films.
The Commission found that, at the movie production level, enough film studios remain as competitors throughout the EU, including U.S. studios Disney, Universal and Sony, along with Amazon MGM Studios, A24 and Lionsgate, as well as European studios.
The Commission found that enough alternative competitors remain to exert sufficient competitive pressure on the merged entity. In particular regarding the overlap in pay-TV channels for children, the EU found that streaming platforms offering children’s content will continue to act as a competitive constraint on the merged entity’s TV channels.
The EU contends that Paramount’s commitments “fully address” the competition concerns identified by the Commission by ensuring that the films of the merged entity will not be distributed jointly with those of Universal or Disney.
Following the positive feedback received in the context of the market test, the Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.
The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments. Under the supervision of the Commission, an independent trustee will monitor their implementation.
The Commission said it has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with revenue above certain thresholds, and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EU or any substantial part of it.
Meanwhile, the merger still requires securing approval from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, in addition to clearing a lawsuit filed by 12 states, led by California.
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