March 26 (Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery said on Thursday shareholders will vote on its planned $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance on April 23, bringing the companies a step closer to completing the deal that would reshape the media landscape.
A green light from investors would move the deal forward, but it would still face intense scrutiny from U.S. and European competition authorities who must assess whether the combined entity will increase prices for customers or hurt competition.
Paramount has bet on closing the deal quickly, promising to pay Warner Bros shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” starting in October if the deal has not closed.
The merger, the latest of several consolidations in the media sector, will solidify CEO David Ellison’s status as one of the industry’s most influential studio owners after he also steered Skydance’s $8.4 billion purchase of Paramount.
Analysts have viewed Paramount as facing an easier road to regulatory approval in part because of Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s ties with President Donald Trump.
However, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division, Omeed Assefi, told Reuters that the deal will “absolutely not” have a fast track to approval because of political factors.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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