Published on 22/07/2026 – 21:44 GMT+2
The European Commission has granted provisional approval with specific antitrust conditions for the $110 billion (€94 billion) merger between Paramount and Skydance Media that would result in a new Paramount Skydance Media entity acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. The agreement includes requirements for the divestment of key assets and operational restrictions to address competition concerns within the European Economic Area (EEA).
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To resolve competition concerns about film distribution practices in Europe, Paramount must officially terminate its entire stake in United International Pictures (UIP), its joint venture with Universal Pictures, within the EEA region comprising all 27 EU member states plus three additional nations.
The European regulators have mandated that the combined entity must never establish any form of direct or indirect film distribution partnerships with Universal during the next decade. This restriction particularly impacts theatrical release scheduling and digital platform sharing arrangements.
In its official statement, the European Commission explained that these requirements specifically address concerns regarding coordinated distribution decisions between the merged Paramount Skydance Universal operations which could potentially limit consumer choices while preserving existing commitments to prevent joint film releases between the merged company and Disney.
“We’ve ensured through these structural remedies that the participating studios will maintain independent decision-making authority regarding film distribution across key European market where healthy competition remains crucial,” emphasized EU competition officials.
Implementation oversight will be conducted through an independent monitoring body supervised by the European Commission which will regularly verify compliance with these operational restrictions through standard regulatory reporting procedures.
The Commission concluded that the proposed merger does not present significant threats to competitive film production markets across Europe given existing strong market competition. Competitors such as The Walt Disney Company major US independent studios like Amazon MGM Studios and numerous European-based film production companies ensure sufficient market diversity.
Breaking: EU approves conditional merger of Warner Bros. Discovery with Paramount in major media deal
The €94 billion transaction now awaits final regulatory clearance in US courts following a recent temporary suspension of the merger by a bankruptcy court in Santa Barbara California. Legal proceedings remain pending with a critical preliminary hearing scheduled for August 3 where a judge will determine whether to impose lasting restrictions before issuing final approval.
Industry analysts note that upon closure this three-way merger of Paramount’s legacy film studio operations with Skydance’s streaming platform and Warner Bros.’s DC Comics franchise portfolio would consolidate influence across theatrical distribution streaming services and global entertainment content production – though the European restrictions create notable operational limitations important market segments.
