(Bloomberg) — BT Group Plc’s £633 million ($797 million) sport TV joint venture with American media giant Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. will undergo antitrust scrutiny from the UK’s competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Wednesday that it’s looking into whether the transaction — which sets a route for BT to sell its pay-TV unit BT Sport — could raise competition concerns. The agency will decide on whether to move to an in-depth probe by July 28.
London-based BT said last month that it was creating a new 50-50 joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery that will combine Premier League football rights with Eurosport into a new bundle that will have a single brand in the future. BT introduced its sports broadcasting service in 2013 and has spent billions to win broadcasting rights to the European Champions League and English Premier League football matches.
Under the terms of the deal, BT will transfer its pay-TV operating businesses to the US firm and receive £93 million cash up front as well as £540 million in the future, subject to certain earn-out conditions which it didn’t specify. Warner Bros will then get a call option to buy out BT’s interest in the business. The parties said they expected the transaction to close by the end of 2022.
“The CMA routinely looks at any proposed joint venture of this sort, so this is a normal part of the process,” a BT spokesman said Wednesday.
BT Unveils £633 Million Sport Deal With Warner Bros Discovery
(Updates with BT response in last paragraph)
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