On 14 September 2018, Disney noti ed its proposed acquisition of certain parts of Fox’ business. Disney and Fox are two of the main Hollywood lm studios and both have a number of TV channels, such as Disney Channel, Fox, National Geographic and History.
In the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the companies provide audio-visual contents and TV chan- nels to broadcasters and distributors The transaction’s aim is to combine Disney with parts of Fox (e.g. Fox lms and TV studios as well as its cable and international TV business).
The investigation of the Commission has shown that with regard to the production and distribution of lms in movie theatres, on the one hand, and with regard to distribution of lms and other TV content for home entertainment and licensing, on the other, the proposed transaction would not entail competition concerns In the Commission’s view, operators such as Sony, Universal and War- ner Bross would still be competing with the merged entity in those markets.
Concerning supply of TV at the wholesale level, the investigation has revealed that the acquisition would eliminate two signi cant suppliers of so-called “factual channels” in the EEA. These channels focus on documentaries, drama and science-related programmes.
Thus, the commitments to which the clearance is subject include Disney’s divestment of the factual channels the company controls in the EEA This divestment will completely remove the overlaps bet- ween the activities of the parties in the supply of factual channels at the wholesale level in the EEA.
