DOJ Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. $111 Billion Merger Without Concessions

Well, that was fast.

According to Politico, DOJ’s Antitrust Division has officially cleared David Ellison’s $111 billion Paramount/Skydance merger involving Warner Bros. Discovery, removing a major regulatory obstacle to the deal.

Regulators approved the transaction without requiring concessions. Officials concluded, after their review, that the merger did not raise sufficient antitrust concerns to warrant a legal challenge. The deal would combine Paramount/Skydance with Warner Bros. Discovery properties such as HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN, TNT, TBS, and HGTV.

The regulatory approval is likely to anger all 5,500 industry professionals who signed a recent WGA open letter warning that the deal could eliminate jobs and raise consumer prices. The signatories included Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix, and Adam McKay. A wide range of other creatives also signed on, including Bryan Cranston, Damon Lindelof, Jason Bateman, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Glenn Close, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, J.J. Abrams, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kristen Stewart, among others.

Of course, the letter was not expected to change anything. This was a done deal the minute both sides agreed to it.

The fact remains that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and the WBD board want to sell, so this is the situation as it stands. They will likely not change their minds—the potential payout is too significant—and, regardless of the open letter or the thousands of A-listers involved, it is unlikely to make a meaningful difference.