{"id":516153,"date":"2026-01-14T19:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516153\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T19:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:13:11","slug":"lawmaker-calls-on-paramount-to-submit-wbd-merger-to-foreign-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516153\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker Calls On Paramount To Submit WBD Merger To Foreign Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA Democratic congressman is calling on Paramount<\/a> to submit any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a> to a foreign ownership review, even if the David Ellison<\/a>-led company does not believe that it is technically required.<\/p>\n

\n\tRep. Sam Liccardo<\/a> (D-CA) wrote in a letter to Ellison that\u201dvoluntary filing would demonstrate good faith, enhance public trust, and provide assurance of the vetting of national-security, private data and influence risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. Discovery has so far rejected Paramount\u2019s offers for its assets, and has instead entered into a deal with Netflix. The streaming giant plans to acquire WBD<\/a>\u2018s studio and streaming assets, with cable channels spun off into a separate entity.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this week, Paramount filed suit against WBD, seeking specific information on why its $30 per share bid was rejected. It also plans a proxy fight to install its own slate of directors.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Capitol Hill, lawmakers have raised concerns about eith combination of Paramount and Netflix with WBD.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast month, Liccardo and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) sent a letter<\/a> to WBD CEO David Zaslav, expressing concerns about foreign investors in Paramount\u2019s financing.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his latest letter<\/a>, Liccardo wrote that \u201cupdated SEC filings indicate that Paramount\u2019s evolving financing structure continues to include substantial foreign participation, including Abu Dhabi\u2013owned L\u2019imad Holding Company PSJC, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (\u201cPIF\u201d). Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman controls the PIF.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe wrote that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has jurisdiction to review the transaction, even as Paramount has said that its investors will not have control over the combined company.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe wrote, \u201cCFIUS regulations define \u2018control\u2019 broadly, and the law does not require the acquisition of a majority interest in the U.S. business. Rather, CFIUS concerns arise where a foreign actor\u2019s minority interests confer a significant ability to influence \u2018important matters\u2019 related to the American entity. The law alternatively authorizes CFIUS review where foreign entities could obtain access to Americans\u2019 \u2018sensitive personal data,\u2019 including viewing histories, behavioral profiles, frequently used passwords, credit card and financial data, and personal device and location information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA Paramount spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tLiccardo also asked Ellison a series of questions, including whether the transaction will include protections to ensure that foreign investors \u201chave no ability, directly or indirectly, to influence editorial decisions, content, news coverage, or distribution priorities.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGiven the nature and reach of Warner\u2019s news and other media companies, which hold the sensitive personal data of more than 100 million American citizens, I believe this acquisition raises serious national security, data-protection, and editorial-independence concerns that warrant full transparency and regulatory scrutiny,\u201d the congressman wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Democratic congressman is calling on Paramount to submit any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to a foreign…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":516154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[32129,36555,171,15329,230357,173,67,132,68,27281,66550],"class_list":{"0":"post-516153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-david-ellison","9":"tag-electionline","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-paramount","12":"tag-sam-liccardo","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-warner-bros-discovery","18":"tag-wbd"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115895048989376533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}