In my last two weekly columns, I discussed M&A in the worlds of media and entertainment (the first focused on Big Tech buyers, the second focused on boutique studio sellers). Consider this the third in my M&A trilogy. Here I focus on perhaps the single biggest threat to all media and entertainment M&A — i.e., the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its increasing heightened antitrust scrutiny of proposed deals.
It’s that scrutiny — and even the perceived threat or expectation of that scrutiny — that is chilling the mega-media M&A air this fall season. After all, Big Tech’s problem certainly isn’t money.