The European Commission on Tuesday approved Disneys acquisition of parts of Fox on the condition that it divest a number of channels.
The transaction, which was notified to the Commission on September 14, raised concerns over the wholesale supply of TV channels. The Commission said that the deal would have eliminated competition between two strong suppliers of “factual channels” such as the National Geographic and History channels.
Disney offered to sell all its stakes in factual channels in the EEA, namely A+E Television Networks, History, H2, Crime & Investigation, Blaze and Lifetime channels, to the satisfaction of EU officials who concluded that the transaction “as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.”
The Commission also investigated the impact of the merger on the production and distribution of films for release in movie theaters, the distribution of content for home entertainment, and the licensing of TV content. No competition issues were identified in those markets.
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