Judge approves AT&T-Time Warner merger

Author: CBS Moneywatch
Published: Updated:
Photo via CBS News

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon has approved AT&T’s proposed $85 billion purchase of Time Warner, a corporate combination that promises to unleash even more megamergers in the fast-changing media business.

The judge’s opinion permits the merger to go forward with no conditions, according to CNBC and Reuters. The Trump administration had opposed the merger, which promises to join one of the country’s biggest telecom providers with a media giant.

Beyond the impact on the companies, the merger is expected to spur frantic dealmaking in the rapidly consolidating media sector. Consumers, too, eagerly watched, with people lined up on Monday outside the Washington courtroom in hopes of getting a seat, Bloomberg reported.

Leon previously approved Comcast’s acquisition of NBCU in 2011. In that case, he added a list of conditions the new entity was required to follow. Among those, Comcast agreed not to gouge competitors who wanted to carry NBC content and not to create a service entirely made up of Comcast or NBC content.

The Justice Department had pressured Time Warner to sell Turner Broadcasting, which includes the cable news operation CNN, or other segments of the business — suggestions the companies resisted. They’ve now won that bet.

This is a developing story.

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