March 26 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) said

on Thursday shareholders will vote on its planned $110 billion

merger with Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) on April 23, bringing

the companies a step closer to completing the deal that would

reshape the media landscape.

A green light from investors would move the deal forward,

but it would still face intense scrutiny from U.S. and European

competition authorities who must assess whether the combined

entity will increase prices for customers or hurt competition.

Paramount has bet on closing the deal quickly, promising to

pay Warner Bros shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly

"ticking fee" starting in October if the deal has not closed.

The merger, the latest of severalconsolidations in the media

sector, will solidify CEO David Ellison's status as one of the

industry's most influential studio owners after he also steered

Skydance's $8.4 billion purchase of Paramount.

Analysts have viewed Paramount as facing an easier road to

regulatory approval in part because of Ellison's father,

billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's ties with

President Donald Trump.

However, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the U.S.

Department of Justice's antitrust division, Omeed Assefi, told

Reuters that the deal will "absolutely not" have a fast track to

approval because of political factors.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by

Devika Syamnath)