EU Grants Conditional Approval for Paramount-Warner Deal

Paramount's proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery cleared a major regulatory hurdle on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, securing conditional approval from the European Commission. The decision stands in contrast to a significant legal challenge unfolding in the United States, where a federal judge temporarily blocked the merger earlier this week.

The European Union's antitrust authority approved the deal after Paramount agreed to exit its longstanding film distribution partnership with Universal Pictures in Europe. Specifically, Paramount must divest its stake in the joint venture United International Pictures within 13 months of the merger closing and cannot enter into any new film co-distribution agreements with Universal in the European Economic Area for a decade. Regulators stated these commitments fully address concerns that combining Warner Bros.' film portfolio with Paramount's existing partnership would have overly concentrated the distribution market, potentially leading to worse terms for cinema operators and consumers.

In its investigation, the Commission found sufficient competition would remain in film production and children's television programming...