Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10456 — Sky/ViacomCBS/JV) (Text with EEA relevance) 2021/C 446/07
Date: 2021-11-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: audiovisual equipment, audiovisual industry, broadcasting, economic concentration, holding company, joint venture, merger control, television








C_2021446EN.01003301.xml










3.11.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 446/33






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10456 — Sky/ViacomCBS/JV)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2021/C 446/07)

1.   
On 25 October 2021, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Sky Limited (‘Sky’, UK), controlled by Comcast Corporation (US);










—


ViacomCBS Inc. (‘ViacomCBS’, US), controlled by National Amusements Inc. (US); and










—


the Joint Venture (‘JV’, US).




Sky and ViacomCBS acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the newly created JV. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned and the JV are:






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for Sky: holding company whose subsidiaries carry on business across the AV value chain, predominantly in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. Sky is ultimately owned by Comcast Corporation (‘Comcast’), a global media, technology and entertainment company. Comcast is present in Europe almost entirely through Sky and NBCUniversal (‘NBCU’), a media and entertainment company active in the AV sector as well as in the home entertainment sector through the distribution of DVDs, Blu-rays and music discs directly to consumers,










—


for ViacomCBS: global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. ViacomCBS’ portfolio is currently divided into three segments: TV Entertainment, Cable Networks, and Filmed Entertainment. ViacomCBS is controlled by National Amusements Inc., and










—


for the JV: a newly created JV for the purpose of (i) establishing and operating a subscription video on-demand streaming service distributed direct-to-consumers as an over-the-top service (i.e., delivered via the internet) and via third party platforms and connected devices comprising AV content as well as (ii) wholesaling of some of ViacomCBS’ and NBCU’s linear pay TV channels via third party multichannel video programming distributors in 22 European countries, including the following countries within the EEA: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.






3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.



4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.10456 — Sky/ViacomCBS/JV
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Fax +32 22964301
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).