EU Kicks Off Probe of Paramount’s $24 Billion in Middle Eastern Funding for Warner Bros. Deal

By Todd Spangler

Todd Spangler

NY Digital Editor

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• EU Kicks Off Probe of Paramount’s $24 Billion in Middle Eastern Funding for Warner Bros. Deal 56 minutes ago
• Paramount Hires Former Biden White House Official Shuwanza Goff as Lead Democratic U.S. Government Affairs Exec 18 hours ago
• Paramount Accuses Netflix of ‘Panic-Level’ ‘Scorched-Earth Campaign’ to ‘Poison’ Regulators Against Warner Bros. Deal; Netflix Calls Claims ‘Absurd’ 23 hours ago

The European Union’s regulatory arm is investigating Paramount Skydance’s proposed Warner Bros. Discovery megamerger over the financial backing of three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.

The European Commission is investigating the $111 billion Paramount-WBD deal under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, looking at the approximately $24 billion being fronted for the takeover by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The EU set a provisional July 14 deadline for vetting the deal under the law, according to a notice posted on the European Commission’s site. That’s in addition to its investigation under standard merger rules with a July 7 deadline.

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