Paramount concessions lead UK to approve takeover of Warner Bros

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy says she will not intervene in £85bn deal after securing guarantees on Channel 5

The UK culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said she will not intervene in Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, removing one of the remaining obstacles to the blockbuster deal.

However, Paramount has made significant concessions to secure the UK government’s backing for the $110bn (£85bn) takeover, which will create a global media powerhouse and effectively bolster the influence of Paramount’s chief executive, David Ellison.

Nandy’s decision to order Britain’s media and competition watchdogs to examine the deal in June came as a shock. However, she has now approved the deal, with conditions attached around protecting UK-based content.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has also cleared the deal, which has already been approved by the EU.

Under the UK guarantees, Paramount’s Channel 5 will continue to ‌operate as a public service broadcaster until the end of 2034. Channel 5 News will retain its editorial independence and will remain separate from other news operations covered by the merger, CBS News and CNN International.

Paramount has agreed that its linear and on-demand services in Britain would retain distinct editorial identities for five years, including its children’s TV content.

Nandy’s department also secured a guarantee that the deal would not reduce the number of people commissioning content in Britain, while Channel 5 would continue to back UK-originated content covering drama, factual and entertainment shows.

Nandy will meet with Paramount “in the coming weeks” to seek assurances about the deals’ impact on Britain’s wider creative industries.

The news means Ellison is a step closer to closing the deal, which would create a group encompassing the Hollywood studios behind film franchises including Superman, Batman and Top Gun, the UK’s Channel 5, the news channel CNN and TNT Sports.

The acquisition still faces a big final hurdle before being completed, following a legal challenge by a coalition of US status and writers’ guilds to block it.

There are also concerns in the media about the potential impact on the news coverage of Warner’s global news network, CNN. Paramount’s own network, CBS News, has faced job cuts , tensions and claims of political interference to push coverage more in line with Donald Trump’s agenda.

Ellison, the son of the tech mogul and Trump ally Larry Ellison, has faced other accusations of attempting to curry favour with the White House as he pursued acquisitions. In a recent essay, however, he denied having a pro-Trump bias .

“I have regularly voted for candidates of both parties,” he wrote. “I hold some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans.”

Responding to the UK government’s decision to clear the deal, Paramount said in a statement: “These clearances recognise that the combination of Paramount and WBD will enhance consumer choice and enable a creative-first company to invest in more projects and bring stories to audiences worldwide.”

Ellison and his legal team can now focus on the US lawsuit, which is aimed at blocking the deal on antitrust grounds.

A California federal judge has scheduled the trial for March 2027, which represents a costly delay. Paramount soon has to make shareholder payouts, which will continue until the deal is completed.