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BT Group PLC was handed a boost on Friday after the UK's Competition & Markets Authority opted against referring the telecommunications company's sports broadcasting joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery Inc to a phase two probe.
In May, BT agreed to a deal with Warner Bros Discovery which would see BT Sports and Eurosport combine.
Once complete, the production and operational assets of BT Sport would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros. BT would get £93 million from Warner Bros and up to £540 million by way of an earn-out.
In June, UK competition regulator CMA launched a Phase 1 merger enquiry into the joint venture.
On Friday, the competition watchdog cleared the JV and said that it would not refer the deal to an in-depth Phase 2 probe.
BT said that the CMA's decision allows it to complete the creation of the JV in the ‘coming weeks’.
The telecommunications firm added, that both BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands and product propositions in the market before being brought together under a single brand in the future.
BT said that the JV's board of directors will be equally represented between appointees of BT and Warner Bros. The first chair to be appointed will be Marc Allera, the chief executive officer of BT's Consumer division. This position will be nominated by each shareholder on a rotating basis. Also, the management and delivery of the JV will be led by Andrew Georgiou, Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe's president and managing director.
Allera said: ‘It's great news that the CMA has approved the new JV that we are forming with Warner Bros, combining the very best of BT Sport and Eurosport UK, to create an exciting new offer for live sport programming in the UK. Today is a huge milestone, as we now look toward day one of the new business, which we hope to be in the coming weeks.’
Shares in BT were 0.6% higher at 182.10 pence each in London on Friday morning.
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