The UK just cleared the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
Britain’s competition regulator cleared Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery takeover on August 6, one of the last international hurdles. But the US state-AG antitrust trial, set for March 2027, is still the wall standing between Paramount and the deal.
Britain has cleared the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, knocking down one of the last international barriers to the $110 billion deal. The hard part is still ahead, and it’s in the United States.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority formally cleared Paramount Skydance‘s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on August 6. It ruled the merger wouldn’t substantially lessen competition in the British market, and it won’t move to a deeper investigation.
That clears the international decks almost entirely. What it doesn’t touch is the American lawsuit that could still sink the whole thing.
What the UK regulator decided
The CMA looked at the deal and concluded the combined company would still face plenty of competition.
Its Phase 1 review focused on theatrical film distribution, children’s TV channels, and streaming. The regulator concluded that even as the UK’s largest distributor, the merged company would still compete against Disney, Universal, Sony, Netflix, and a range of smaller studios, so the deal doesn’t raise a realistic prospect of substantially lessening competition.
Separately, UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who had earlier said she was “minded to intervene” over media-plurality concerns, accepted binding commitments from Paramount and stood down. Parliament will be updated on those commitments when it returns from recess in September.
Paramount has now cleared most of the world
The UK was one of the last big overseas dominoes, and it’s fallen.
Paramount says it has now secured competition clearances in 66 jurisdictions, including the US, the European Commission (which cleared it on July 22), Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, and more. WBD shareholders approved the merger back in April.
Paramount was quick to spin the UK ruling as ammunition. It argued the CMA’s conclusions “directly refute” the assumptions behind the US state attorneys general’s lawsuit, and slammed that suit’s “misguided and gerrymandered market definitions.”
The US lawsuit is the actual obstacle
Here’s why none of the international clearances have closed the deal.
A coalition of 12 US state attorneys general, led by California, plus the Writers Guild of America, is suing to block the merger on antitrust grounds, arguing it would reduce competition in film and TV and raise consumer prices. A federal judge has set that trial for March 2, 2027.
That trial is the wall. Paramount has agreed not to close the deal until five days after a verdict, or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first, and it’s paying a “ticking fee” of roughly $650 million per quarter to WBD shareholders for every quarter the deal stays open past September 30. If the merger collapses over regulatory issues, Paramount owes WBD a $7 billion breakup fee.
So the scoreboard reads: the whole world has basically said yes, and a dozen US states are the reason David Ellison still doesn’t have his prize. He can now stop worrying about London and focus entirely on the courtroom in March.
The international fight is essentially over. The one that decides whether this deal happens has barely started.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
GOV.UK / CMA (August 6, 2026), verified for the formal clearance, the decision not to move to a deeper investigation, the Phase 1 focus areas, and the Culture Secretary’s statement
Paramount Skydance press release via PR Newswire (August 6, 2026), verified for the 66-jurisdiction clearance count, the July 22 European Commission clearance, the deed of covenant with DCMS, and Paramount’s statements refuting the state-AG complaint
TheWrap (August 6, 2026), verified for the Phase 1 “substantially lessen” competition standard, the Disney/Universal/Sony competition finding, the “misguided and gerrymandered market definitions” quote, the June 1 2027 closing agreement, and the $7 billion termination fee
Deadline (August 6, 2026), verified for Lisa Nandy declining to intervene, the UK being one of the last overseas hurdles, and the March 2027 US antitrust trial
The Hollywood Reporter (August 6, 2026), verified for the CMA’s “do not appear closer to each other than to Universal, Disney, or Sony” reasoning and the $111 billion deal framing
CorpDev.org (August 6, 2026), verified for the ~$650 million quarterly ticking fee, the September 30 trigger, and the 12-state California-led lawsuit details