News
EC clears Discovery Scripps acquisition
T
he European Commission (EC) has
cleared Discovery Communication’s
proposed acquisition of Scripps
Networks Interactive, subject to conditions.
The EC’s approval is conditional on
Discovery’s commitment to offer third party
distributors the right, on a non-exclusive and
unbundled basis, to distribute TVN24 and/or
TVN24 BiS in Poland.
“We are pleased with the positive decision of
the European Commission,” said David Zaslav,
president and chief executive officer, 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 optimising
our business for greater efficiency.”
Discovery announced in July 2017 that
it had reached a definitive agreement to
acquire Scripps Networks in a cash-and-
stock transaction. The combination of the
companies is expected to extend Scripps
Networks’ content to international audiences,
increase opportunities for advertisers and
digital distribution partners, and unlock
significant cost synergies.
The closing of the proposed transaction
is subject to obtaining additional antitrust
Europe ends shopping
geo-blocking
Buyers will be able to
shop online in the EU
without being blocked or
automatically re-routed
following a vote in the
European Parliament,
although digital copyrighted
content, such as e-books,
downloadable music or
online games, will not be
covered by the new rules
for the time being.
The new rules will ban
the ‘geo-blocking’ of buyers
browsing websites in another
EU country, so as to enable
them to choose from which
website they buy goods
8 EUROMEDIA
clearances and satisfying other customary
closing conditions. The transaction is expected
to close later in Q1 2018.
Until legal close, the companies will
continue to operate as separate and
independent entities.
The EC’s investigation found that:
• In the UK, the proposed transaction would
raise no competition issues given the limited
overlap between the companies’ activities.
• In Poland, the proposed transaction risked
increasing Discovery’s bargaining power
vis-à-vis TV distributors because of the
acquisition of certain channels that are
particularly important in distributors’ basic
pay-TV channel packages. In particular,
TVN24, TVN’s flagship news channel, was
identified as crucial to retail TV offerings.
Following the transacti