UK clears Paramount’s $111B takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery
UK regulators just gave Paramount’s mega takeover a key thumbs-up — the kind that inches a seismic deal forward and makes rivals sweat.
UK officials have cleared a major hurdle for the proposed $111 billion tie-up, confirming the country’s Competition and Markets Authority found no reason to intervene after reviewing the deal. In a statement from the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the government said it accepted legally binding promises from Paramount to preserve editorial independence, protect the identities of key news services, and continue investing in Britain — assurances that led Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to decline a Public Interest Intervention Notice.
On the entertainment side, the vision is simple: fold big libraries and big brands into one place. David Ellison has pitched a combined service that would marry Paramount’s slate with Warner Bros. Discovery’s — think one app where you find the streaming platforms, broadcast pillars and tentpole franchises under a single roof.
- Paramount+
- Max
- CBS
- CNN
- DC
- Harry Potter
- Major sports rights
$7 million a day — the reported fee piling up while the merger remains delayed.
What’s still in the way
The UK’s sign-off doesn’t end the regulatory maze. In the U.S., a multi-state antitrust lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta — and backed by the Writers Guild of America — has resulted in a court order that pauses the closing of the acquisition while the case proceeds, with a trial currently set for March 2027 .
Europe hasn’t weighed in yet either: EU approval is still pending. And the proposed merger continues to face political scrutiny tied to sovereign wealth fund investments from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
For now, the UK green light is the biggest win to date for the deal — but the companies still need Brussels’ approval and the U.S. court’s go-ahead before anything can officially close, with that court date on the calendar for March 2027.