Paramount’s £80bn takeover of Warner Brothers a step closer after EU approval

Paramount Skydance’s proposed £80bn takeover of Warner Brothers has moved a step closer after the company won conditional approval from the European Union, according to a monitored public feed based on reporting from The Guardian Business.

The European Commission said Paramount’s plan to end a film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures addressed concerns it had raised about the potential merger. The move clears an important regulatory hurdle for the deal, which would combine two major players in the entertainment industry if completed.

Under the commitments accepted by the EU, Paramount will have 13 months from the date the transaction closes to withdraw from the venture. The commission’s decision indicates that regulators were satisfied the proposed remedy was sufficient to ease competition concerns linked to the arrangement.

The approval does not mean the takeover is finished, but it does bring the deal nearer to completion after a period of regulatory scrutiny. Large media mergers often require sign-off from multiple authorities, and commitments such as the one made here are a common way to resolve competition objections.

The monitored public feed did not provide further detail on the timing of the broader deal or any additional conditions beyond the EU’s ruling on the Universal venture. Still, the decision marks a significant advance for Paramount Skydance as it pursues one of the largest media transactions in recent years.

Source attribution: this article is based on a monitored public feed summarizing reporting from The Guardian Business.

Source: The Guardian Business - https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/22/paramount-skydance-takeover-warner-brothers-eu-approval