European Union antitrust regulators said on Wednesday they had signed off on Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The approval, which included concessions made by Paramount, comes as the deal has been delayed in the U.S. due to concerns raised by state attorneys general.
In order to garner the approval, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, said Paramount agreed to divest its stake in a film distribution joint venture with United International Pictures in Europe, and said it would not enter into any film distribution deal with Universal for the next 10 years in Europe.
“These 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 Universal or Disney,” according to the EU’s release.
Paramount’s stock was up about 2% in afternoon trading.
The EU’s approval marks a major regulatory milestone for the $110 billion proposed merger.
The deal earlier won approval from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Various other global jurisdictions have also signed off on the deal.
“With the clearance from the European Commission, bodies and governments representing 65 jurisdictions have either cleared the transaction or chosen not to challenge it on competition and/or foreign direct investment grounds,” Paramount said in a release on Wednesday.
“These clearances recognize that the combination of Paramount and WBD will enhance consumer choice and enable a creative-first company to invest in more projects and bring stories to audiences worldwide,” Paramount said in its statement. “It will create a scaled media and entertainment company capable of competing with the tech companies that have come to dominate the industry, strengthening the media ecosystem and creating more opportunities for creatives both in front of and behind the camera.”
The clearance comes as a lawsuit brought forward by a group of U.S. state attorneys general last week has become a potential holdup in this deal moving forward.
The coalition led by California’s Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger due to antitrust concerns. The tie-up is set to combine two major film studios, Paramount and Warner Bros., a massive portfolio of pay TV networks, and streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+.
Earlier this week a California district judge granted a temporary restraining order that puts a 14-day pause on anything moving forward with the merger.
“The conclusions reached by the European Commission directly refute key assumptions that underpin the state AGs’ complaint seeking to block the transaction,” Paramount said in its release.
Paramount previously said it is on track to close the merger by the end of September.
