CELEX: 32020M9439
Language: en
Date: 2020-04-06 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 06/04/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9439 - WARNER BROS / UNIVERSAL / HOME ENTERTAINMENT / JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 6.4.2020
                                                                C(2020) 2245 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9439 - WARNER BROS / UNIVERSAL / HOME
                ENTERTAINMENT / JV
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 13 March 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Warner Bros.
        Home Entertainment Inc. (“Warner Bros”, United States of America), ultimately
        controlled by AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”, United States of America) and Universal City
        Studios Productions LLLP (“Universal”, United States of America), ultimately
        controlled by Comcast Corporation (“Comcast”, United States of America) acquire
        within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control
        over a newly created company constituting a joint venture (“JV”), by way of purchase
        of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for Warner Bros: production, distribution and licensing of TV programming and
              feature films, distribution of home entertainment products in both physical and
              digital formats, production and distribution of videogames and consumer
              products, brand licensing,
             for AT&T: provision of global telecommunications and digital entertainment
              services,
             for Universal: production, distribution and licensing of TV programming and
              feature films, wholesale supply of TV channels and on-demand services, general
1       OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on
        the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the
        replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology
        of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.
2       OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).
3       Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 98, 25.03.2020, p. 12.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak---         entertainment and news content, licensing of intellectual property to
        manufacturers and distributors of consumer products,
       for Comcast: provision of media, technology and entertainment services,
       for the JV: manufacturing and distribution of physical home entertainment
        content in the US and Canada.
3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that
   the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of
   paragraph 5(a) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European
   Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it
   compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is
   adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of
   the EEA Agreement.
                                                  For the Commission
                                                  (Signed)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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