STORY: The U.S. Justice Department's (DOJ) Antitrust Division said it has cleared Paramount Skydance Corp's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
It said the $110 billion transaction was unlikely to harm competition or consumers,
saying its impact "will be to increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers."
Paramount thanked the DOJ for its review of the transaction.
It said the deal would allow the company to better compete in an industry defined by an intense scramble for audiences, talent, technology and investment.
Paramount CEO David Ellison's father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated ties with President Donald Trump.
Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi had said that politics would "absolutely not" drive the DOJ's review of the transaction.
The Federal Communications Commission has yet to approve Paramount's petition for foreign investors to own up to 100% of the deal's debt.
Several in Hollywood have expressed concern that the merger would result in fewer jobs and less diversity of storytelling.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that California, New York and other U.S. states are preparing a lawsuit to block the deal.
