Report: DOJ Opposes AT&T's T-Mobile USA Buy The Department of Justice reportedly filed suit on Wednesday to block AT&T's (T: 28.52, -1.10, -3.71%) $39 billion planned takeover of T-Mobile USA.
According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. is opposing the controversial acquisition on antitrust grounds. The DOJ and AT&T did not immediately respond to requests for comment. News of the opposition sent shares of Dallas-based AT&T declining 3.1% to $28.75 Wednesday morning. Germany's Deutsche Telekom, parent of T-Mobile USA, slumped 5.5% on the report. AT&T rival Sprint Nextel (S: 3.87, +0.32, +9.01%) leaped 9.3% to $3.88 as the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider had opposed the deal. The T-Mobile acquisition has faced opposition from consumer groups and some politicians worried about the impact on pricing because it would leave the mobile market with two dominant players: AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which is majority owned by Verizon (VZ: 35.98, -0.33, -0.91%). By combining the industry's second and fourth-largest mobile phone providers, it would also displace Verizon from its perch atop the market. It's not clear yet if the apparent DOJ opposition will successfully sink the deal. Regulators may force AT&T to agree to further asset sales or other provisions to make the sale more palatable. However, if the deal does collapse, AT&T will be stuck with a hefty bill. According to the merger agreement, AT&T would be required to pay T-Mobile $3 billion in cash and provide it with wireless spectrum and other incentives valued at as much as $7 billion. The Federal Communications Commission has not yet weighed in on the deal. The report about antitrust problems comes just hours after AT&T vowed to return 5,000 outsourced calling-center jobs to the U.S. if regulators sign off on the transaction. That promise, AT&T said, represented the greatest pledge by an American company to return jobs to U.S. soil since 2008. Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/08/31/report-doj-opposes-atts -t-mobile-usa-buy _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
