Discovery may take over WarnerMedia

Media company Discovery Inc.'s plan to acquire long-established film and television studio WarnerMedia has cleared the US Department of Justice's antitrust review, clearing another hurdle on the way to completion, according to a filing Wednesday.

The $43 billion deal announced last May received unconditional antitrust approval from the European Commission in December. WarnerMedia's parent company, AT&T Corp., also received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service confirming the merger's tax-exempt status, another important prerequisite to the closing.

The deal now has to be approved by Discovery's shareholders. It is already backed by investors John Malone and the Newhouse family.

AT&T announced on Feb. 1 that it would spin off WarnerMedia to its shareholders, who will own 71% of the new company, Warner Bros. Discovery. This reverses AT&T's $85 billion purchase of Time Warner.