FCC approves foreign investment in Paramount-Warner deal while barring voting stock

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission granted Paramount Skydance’s request to allow foreign investors to back its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery, while barring them from owning voting stock.

The FCC’s media bureau said in a statement that it had waived the deal’s 25% cap on foreign equity ownership and set a limit allowing individual investors to own as much as 20% of the equity.

Earlier, a group of Democratic senators raised concerns about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds acquiring stakes in Paramount through the transaction.

The FCC ruling states that foreign investors cannot hold any voting stock and will have no influence, direction or control over Paramount’s content decisions or company management. They are also prohibited from providing commentary or guidance on such matters and from accessing non-public data about U.S. citizens.

The Paramount-Warner merger encountered a setback after a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the deal amid a legal challenge filed by several U.S. states.

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