The filing moves the transaction from deal agreement into a formal EU competition process. Reuters reported that the Commission, the EU's antitrust enforcer, can clear the deal, approve it with commitments or open a longer Phase 2 investigation if it sees a serious risk to competition. Phase 1 is the initial screening stage; Phase 2 is an in-depth review that can add months to a transaction timetable.
Paramount has described the transaction as a cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery shares. In a February investor-relations statement, Paramount said it had increased its offer to $30 a share and discussed a revised structure intended to compete with a Netflix proposal then before Warner Bros. Discovery. Later reporting and company statements put the broader enterprise value of the Paramount-Warner transaction at about $110 billion when debt and related financing are included.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in an April company release that its stockholders had approved the transaction with Paramount Skydance. Axios reported at the time that shareholder approval cleared one corporate hurdle but that the deal still needed regulatory approvals before closing.
Table: Key facts in the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery review
| Item | Reported fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount cash offer | $30 a share | Paramount investor-relations statement |
| Reported enterprise value | About $110 billion | Reuters and Le Monde |
| EU Phase 1 deadline | 7 July 2026 | European Commission filing reported by Reuters |
| UK process | Invitation to comment, 13-27 April 2026 | Competition and Markets Authority |
| WBD net debt | About $29 billion at end-2025 | Reuters |
Source: Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Competition and Markets Authority, Reuters and Le Monde, 2026.
The EU filing matters because the transaction would combine two Hollywood studios and two streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max. Reuters reported that the merger would reduce the major Hollywood studio group from five to four. The competition question is narrower than that phrase alone: regulators will examine where the companies overlap in streaming, film distribution, television channels and content licensing in European markets.