The European Commission (EC) has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of Discovery’s proposed acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia business.
Commenting on the development, David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company, said: “Approval from the EC is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T.
“Today we move one important step closer to creating Warner Bros. Discovery, a premier entertainment company that will be one of the world’s leading investors in premium content and one positioned to serve consumers with what we believe will be the most complete content offering under one roof”.
Discovery says it currently anticipates the closing of the WarnerMedia transaction to occur in mid-2022, subject to approval by its stockholders and additional customary closing conditions, including other regulatory approvals. No approval is required by AT&T stockholders.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, last May AT&T and Discovery entered into a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s leading nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses.
