UK Government Considers Intervention in $111 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover

The British government is considering intervening in the $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance on public interest grounds related to media ownership and plurality of views in news. The culture secretary stated on Tuesday that she was minded to intervene and had written to the current and proposed owners of Warner Bros.

Discovery to inform them of the preliminary decision.

The focus will be on businesses that operate in the UK and provide services to UK audiences, including Channel 5, TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, CNN International, Paramount+, and HBO Max. A final decision on whether to proceed with a formal intervention has not been taken.

Paramount has until July 6 to respond. If the government decides to move forward, the deal would be examined by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority, which has already opened a separate merger inquiry on antitrust grounds.

A Paramount spokesperson said the company was confident that the proposed transaction does not pose any media plurality issues in the UK and remained confident in the stated transaction timeline. Paramount Skydance has said it expects to complete the deal in the third quarter of this year.

The deal has already been approved in the United States without concessions. The EU is set to approve the takeover with certain remedies, which could include a requirement for Paramount to exit its joint venture with Universal Pictures.

A separate deal to sell the Telegraph newspaper in the UK was held up for months after the government issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice. That transaction was completed on Tuesday with confirmation of the acquisition by Germany’s Axel Springer.

The culture secretary also said legislation was drafted to largely cover broadcast linear channels but should also consider streaming or video-on-demand services.