The Justice Department has signed off on Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News, clearing the way for a merger that will unite two historic Hollywood studios and reshape the American entertainment industry.
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A formal announcement is expected soon, the familiar with the matter told NBC News. A spokesperson for Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to request for comment on Friday.
The news was first reported by Politico.
Paramount owns a 114-year-old film studio, the Paramount+ streaming service and the CBS broadcast network. Warner owns a 116-year-old film studio, the HBO Max streaming service and a suite of cable channels, including CNN.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has previously vowed to “honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company.” The 43-year-old media executive is the son of technology magnate Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle and an ally of President Donald Trump.
But the deal has faced blowback from regulators and some Hollywood professionals.
In an open letter released in April, more than 1,000 entertainment professionals said the deal would “further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it.”
European Union officials are reviewing the merger over the deal’s financial backing from three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. In an April filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Paramount said its acquisition of Warner is backed in part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi’s L’IMAD Holding and the Qatar Investment Authority.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the United Kingdom’s antitrust authority are also investigating the transaction.
In recent weeks, Ellison’s Paramount has faced criticism from within CBS News, after his appointed editor in chief Bari Weiss fired multiple “60 Minutes” correspondents at the end of the most recent season.
