Judge Approves AT&T and Time Warner Merger

A planned merger between AT&T and Time Warner can move forward, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled this afternoon, reports CNBC.

AT&T's $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner has been on hold since November, when the United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop the merger, based on the argument that it would result in higher bills and fewer options for consumers.

According to the court's ruling, the merger between the two companies is legal, and no conditions were imposed on its approval.

In a statement, AT&T said that it is pleased with the merger and plans to move forward with closing the deal on or before June 20.

"We are pleased that, after conducting a full and fair trial on the merits, the Court has categorically rejected the government's lawsuit to block our merger with Time Warner. We thank the Court for its thorough and timely examination of the evidence, and we compliment our colleagues at the Department of Justice on their dedicated representation of the government. We look forward to closing the merger on or before June 20 so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable, mobile, and innovative."

The Justice Department, meanwhile, said that it was disappointed with the court's ruling.

"We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. We will closely review the Court's opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of American consumers."

Today's decision could have an impact on other significant "vertical" mergers where distribution companies like AT&T purchase companies that make content, like Time Warner. Comcast, for example, has already announced plans to bid on Fox's assets in an attempt to beat out Disney.

Top Rated Comments

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vicviper789

21 months ago

Thank god for net neut-..uh..sheit

Rating: 25 Votes

vipergts2207

21 months ago

I think it's important to note what the response of the justice department was:
"We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. We will closely review the Court's opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of American consumers."

I'm willing to bet that if AT&T steps out of line, especially after this merger, that they would lay the hammer down.

Just saying. :cool:

Yes, the U.S. government has quite the record of cracking down on large corporations when they commit wrongdoing. /s

Rating: 21 Votes

vipergts2207

21 months ago

Surely this will only be a benefit to consumers. /s

Rating: 19 Votes

SFO 1K

21 months ago

I think it's interesting that they consider this a vertical merger.. perhaps I am missing what Time Warner does.

Are you confusing the TimeWarner internet service provider with the TW media holdings (Warner Bros Studios, CNN, HBO Turner Networks, etc.)?

AT&T doesn't own any content - until now.

This is just like when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal.

Rating: 13 Votes

GermanSuplex

21 months ago

Hopefully one of these mega corps will come up with a mind-blowing concept like decent rates and competent customer service. AT&T was barely a cut above Comcast when I left, which isn’t saying much.

Rating: 11 Votes

Carlanga

21 months ago

Now I wait for Disney to buy AT&T to complete the loop

Rating: 11 Votes

DocMultimedia

21 months ago

The good old days of Ma Bell are back.

Rating: 10 Votes

vipergts2207

21 months ago

Actually, they do. When the justice department is doing what it is supposed to. When the justice department gets too political, then it becomes a problem.

I trust your google-fu will serve you well if you look into it. Just because you don't hear about it in the news all the time, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. It happens quite regularly.

What happened to the banks and their CEOs after they collapsed the economy again? If they didn’t do anything about something of that magnitude, I certainly have no faith when it comes to this issue. Fines that are less than the company profited from the wrongdoing itself is also funny. That’s not a punishment, that’s just the government taking a cut.

Rating: 9 Votes