EC greenlights Discovery, WarnerMedia merger
December 22, 2021
The European Commission (EC) has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of Discovery’s proposed acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia business.
“Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company. “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 said it currently anticipates the closing of the WarnerMedia transaction to occur in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery stockholders and additional customary closing conditions, including other regulatory approvals.
No approval is required by AT&T stockholders.