U.K. Approves Paramount's $81B Merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, as Long as It Does Not Combine HBO Max with Paramount+

Paramount Skydance received approval – with limitations – from UK regulators Thursday as it pursues its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority cleared the pending acquisition, ruling a Paramount-Warner tie up does not pose a “substantial lessening of competition” in the country, AP reports. UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy previously said she was “minded to intervene” in the merger. Then on on Thursday her office flagged Paramount agreed to “provide a set of protections” to safeguard the “continued availability of a diverse range of broadcasting and on-demand services in the UK,” as well their editorial independence. In a statement, Nandy said, “Today, the Competition and Markets Authority have announced their decision that there are no competition aspects of this proposed merger in the U.K. which necessitate their further intervention.”