European Union approves Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery with conditions

Brussels, July 22 (KUNA) -- The European Union approved on Wednesday the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance in a deal valued at $110 billion, following the company’s agreement to terminate a joint film distribution project with Universal Pictures. The European Commission, responsible for enforcing EU competition rules, said in a statement that Paramount Skydance’s commitment to wind down the joint United International Pictures venture in Europe within 13 months of closing the deal addressed competition concerns. It added that the company will not enter into any film distribution agreements with Universal in Europe for a period of 10 years, nor will it transfer the distribution of Warner Bros. films in cinemas to a distributor under its control. The Commission confirmed that these commitments fully address the competition concerns it had identified, by ensuring that the merged entity will not jointly distribute films with those of Universal or Disney. (End) A.R.N. / H.M.F.