U.S., EU lawmakers pledge European scrutiny of Paramount's WBD deal

David Ellison, the chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Skydance Corp. walks through Statuary Hall to the State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | A group of U.S. and European lawmakers told Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that the company's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will be subject to careful scrutiny by European regulators and that he should not consider shareholder approval of the deal to be the final word. The three European Parliament members and two Democratic U.S. House lawmakers issued their warning in a letter sent Thursday and shared exclusively with CNBC. "In the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament will closely examine market definition, market share threshold, customer substitutability, vertical integration effects, and downstream impacts in the Internal Market pursuant to the EU Merger Regulation," they wrote. The lawmakers noted that despite a preliminary WBD shareholder vote approving the merger last month, it is still subject to scrutiny by their respective governments. And, they warned that the merger could create new barriers to competition. "We raise particular concern about public statements suggesting that this transaction will face minimal regulatory scrutiny or will likely receive swift approval. Such characterizations appear premature," U.S. Reps. …