Is a Department of Justice lawsuit challenging the $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger imminent? At least one financial analyst believes so.
AT&T’s proposed purchase of Time Warner would place the telecommunications company in control of a portion of the entertainment it delivers, such as HBO, potentially allowing the carrier to raise content prices for competing distribution platforms. “We now believe AT&T and Time Warner have been informed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) that a lawsuit is imminent,” said Global financial services company BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield in a tweet.
The FCC previously cleared the transaction. Should the AT&T-Time Warner merger fail the DOJ’s antitrust review, and the DOJ sues, the carrier reportedly plans to probe whether the White House influenced the DOJ decision, Bloomberg reported. If that happens, sources told Bloomberg, AT&T would seek court approval to access emails between the DOJ and the White House. President Donald Trump said during the campaign if elected, he would block the merger, The Hill reported.
Some news outlets reported government lawyers told AT&T it would need to divest CNN’s parent company, Turner Broadcasting, or AT&T’s satellite broadcaster DirecTV. Other sources say AT&T offered to sell CNN but was told by the DOJ this wouldn’t be enough to allay antitrust concerns, reports the Washington Post. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson denies the carrier suggested any of what’s been reported.
November 16, 2017
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