AT&T’s Multibillion Dollar Purchase of Time Warner Might Fail for Not Involving FCC

Last year, AT&T proposed an acquisition of Time Warner under which AT&T will acquire Time Warner in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $107.50 per share. The two parties had structured the deal so that no airwave licenses would be transferred, thus avoiding review by the FCC. However, by avoiding the public scrutiny of the FCC review process, AT&T might have narrowed the choice of conditions to be imposed on the merger to divestiture conditions, including possibly sale of CNN.

The lawsuit filed by the DOJ means that unless AT&T prevails in the litigation, only a divestiture will allow the deal to move forward. Read more here.

About the author:

Stephen Díaz Gavin combines legal acumen and litigation experience with public policy advocacy skills to help a diverse range of clients, both international and domestic, in dealing with legal and policy issues facing them in the United States and overseas.
Stephen specializes in international litigation and arbitration, including sovereign representation. Read his full biography here