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EU: Commission clears Discovery’s US$14.6b acquisition of Scripps

By  |  February 6, 2018

European Union authorities have conditionally cleared Discovery Communications’ US$14.6 billion deal for Scripps Networks Interactive.

The European Commission has ruled that Discovery must offer third-party distributors and platforms the right, on a non-exclusive and unbundled basis, to distribute the TVN24 and/or TVN24 BiS TV channels in Poland. Polish media firm TVN runs the channels and was acquired by Scripps in 2015.

Discovery said the green light from European authorities was an important step towards closing the transaction, which was announced last July. The company added that the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

“We are pleased with the positive decision of the European Commission,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery. “We believe that joining the Discovery and Scripps Networks’ family of brands and assets will allow us to better serve our passionate fans with more content on more platforms worldwide, while at the same time optimizing our business for greater efficiency.”

Full Content: Hollywood Reporter

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