Britain said on Tuesday it could intervene in Paramount Skydance Corp’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, potentially holding up the $110 billion deal after the U.S. and China gave it the green light.
The move could see the deal referred to the UK’s antitrust regulator, which made headlines in 2023 when it blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard to the fury of the two U.S. companies.
It later changed its mind after Microsoft amended its acquisition plan.
Britain’s possible intervention comes after the global deal has been cleared by the United States, China, Australia, Germany, France and Saudi Arabia.
Britain’s culture minister Lisa Nandy, an ally of the man who is set to become Britain’s next prime minister in July, Andy Burnham, said the deal could have an impact on news, children’s television and streaming services in Britain.
“I am mindful of the need to reach a final decision in a timely manner, and I will endeavour to do so as appropriate,” she said, adding that she had given the companies until July 6 to respond to her concerns.
EU antitrust regulators are also assessing the deal, with Paramount set to offer remedies this week to address competition concerns which will likely help to secure EU approval.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority is already reviewing the deal and will decide by August 7 whether it will launch a more in-depth probe.
Any lengthy hold up in Britain could have wider ramifications.
To signal confidence in winning swift regulatory approval, Paramount has offered Warner Bros Discovery shareholders a “ticking fee” of 25 cents a share for every quarter the deal does not close beyond September 30. That works out to roughly $650 million in cash each quarter.
Paramount said on Tuesday it believed the deal did not pose any issues on media plurality and it remained confident in its stated timeline. Warner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
William Turtle, partner at law firm Slaughter and May, said “given the profile of the transaction and the potential political ramifications, this step will have been carefully considered”.
UK SETS JULY 6 DEADLINE FOR RESPONSES
Paramount owns Britain’s Channel 5, a free-to-air broadcaster, while Warner owns CNN International.
Channel 5’s news is provided by ITN, a third-party news organisation that also serves its two bigger rivals ITV and Channel 4.
It had a weekly reach of 3%, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report published last month, just behind CNN International, which had a 2% reach. The BBC, in comparison, reaches 48% of viewers and ITV News 24%.
Other businesses that the UK government said could be affected include streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, and TNT Sports, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
Nandy said children’s TV could be particularly affected because Paramount and Warner were the second and third biggest providers of children’s linear content in Britain, behind the BBC.
She noted Paramount’s assurances that it had no plans to make big changes to Warner’s TV channels and streaming services in Britain, but she said any consolidation would “potentially lead to a loss of a significant presence in an already limited market for children’s linear content”.
A 2025 Ofcom report, however, said YouTube was the first place younger viewers go as soon as they switch on their TV.
Grounds for intervention do not cover streamers, but Nandy said the combined reach of the companies’ on-demand services, which she said was likely to be 19% after the deal, was relevant and she would introduce secondary legislation if needed.
Paramount+ and HBO Max have only a small share of the UK streaming market, which is dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, as well as the BBC’s iPlayer and ITV’s ITVX.
A report by UK media regulator Ofcom in 2025 grouped Paramount+ with other services such as Discovery+ and Hayu in an “other” bucket that held only 6% of the share of the market, compared with Netflix’s 59%.
HBO Max, which launched in the UK in March, likely holds a similarly small slice.
Paramount has said it will continue to license content made by both Paramount and Warner to third party platforms, in contrast to the approach of its larger rivals.
After the companies respond, Nandy will decide whether to issue a formal public interest intervention notice, which if she does, would trigger reviews by Ofcom and the CMA.
Following reports from the regulators, Nandy will then decide whether to clear the deal or refer it for a further investigation, which can last up to 24 weeks.
If concerns are identified, the companies could seek to address them by offering remedies such as divestments or commitments to protect editorial independence.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Muvija M, Sarah Young and Paul Sandle）
