Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has formally opened a probe into the David Ellison-led Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, but the company has been cleared to close the acquisition by regulators in Australia and New Zealand.
“In connection with the merger, on June 9, 2026, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published its decision that the merger may be consummated, subject to expiration of a 14-calendar-day waiting period,” Paramount disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. “The waiting period is scheduled to expire at 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on June 23, 2026.”
In its decision, the ACCC concluded that the megadeal was “unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in relation to the wholesale supply of films for theatrical release in Australia,” Paramount said in its filing. While it would remove competition between Paramount and Warner Brothers, “the merged entity would continue to be constrained by other film studios post-acquisition.”
And, according to the filing, the ACCC added: “[T]he merged entity is unlikely to have a sufficiently strong position in the supply of wholesale [audiovisual] content to enable it to successfully foreclose rivals’ access to [audiovisual] content.”
In addition, on June 5, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) informed Paramount Skydance that “it does not intend to consider the merger further,” Wednesday’s filing highlighted. “The relevant clearance regime is voluntary, and the NZCC does not give informal clearances to parties.”
The company also touted other recent international moves in favor of the planned mega-combination. Highlighted the filing: “In recent weeks, Paramount Skydance received necessary approvals for the merger from competition authorities in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Serbia and North Macedonia, and from foreign direct investment authorities in Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Czechia, New Zealand, Italy, France and Romania.”
The deadline for the U.K. regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, to decide on a possible deeper-dive phase 2 investigation is Aug. 7.
