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Mergers and Acquistions News

Categories: Telecoms

December 12th 2011, 17:06PM

 

There have been further delays made to a merger between AT&T and Deutsche Telekom after the US Justice Department asked a federal judge for a postponement in an anti-trust suit brought against the company.

Hopes of a $39 billion (£24 billion) merger deal are becoming less likely after receiving regulatory opposition from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an anti-trust lawsuit.

AT&T hopes to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, but in a staff report, the FCC claimed that a merger would result in an increase in subscriber and spectrum concentration "that is unprecedented in scale", resulting in less competition in the telecoms market.

However, AT&T's general counsel Wayne Watts urged that the deal would increase wireless capacity and efficiencies in the US.

District judge Ellen Huvelle said on Friday (December 9th) that AT&T's withdrawal of the FCC application and reported changes in the deal lead to scepticism about the company's plans for the matter to be resolved soon.

If the deal fails, AT&T will give T-Mobile $4 billion in cash and spectrum.
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