EU approves Paramount’s $81 billion Warner Bros. mega merger deal with conditions

New York: The European Union approved Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery this week, effectively clearing another regulatory hurdle for a mega merger that could vastly reshape the entertainment and media landscape worldwide.

But the greenlight comes with certain conditions.

The European Commission – which serves as the EU’s antitrust enforcer – said that even with a Paramount-Warner combo, enough competitors would exist across markets like film production and streaming in its 27-nation bloc. Still, when it comes to distributing movies to theaters, the Commission warned of high concentration that could lead to “worse rental and distribution terms for cinema operators, ultimately disadvantaging consumers.”