The EU is set to carry out parallel reviews of bids for Warner Bros. Discovery from Netflix and Paramount Skydance, in an unusual move, Bloomberg reported.
The simultaneous reviews are inevitable due to the timing of the competing proposals and the fact that both sides have already approached EU competition regulators about their plans, the report said, citing unnamed people.
Parallel reviews
The situation means that the EU competition regulator could exert unusual influence over the efforts to acquire Warner Bros, depending on its findings.
If regulators there find one of the bids substantially more problematic than the other, it could lead Warner Bros. to favour that deal.
Paramount has been aggressively pursuing Warner Bros. since September, with Netflix entering the competition in a surprise move after Warner Bros. put itself up for sale in October.
Netflix is currently offering a revised bid of $27.75 (£20.70) per share in cash for Warner Bros.’ streaming and studio business, after previous offering a mixture of cash and shares.
Competing bids
Paramount Skydance, led by Larry Ellison’s son, David Ellison, is offering $30 per share in cash for all of Warner Bros.
Warner leadership currently prefers Netflix’s bid, but it is seen as more complex from an antitrust point of view due to Netflix’s strong position in streaming services in Europe.
