Items tagged with mergers
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on Monday, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler went on record with his thoughts on the now-dead $42 billion bid by Comcast to absorb Time-Warner Cable (TWC), saying that he thought Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made a "really good decision" in choosing to end the takeover attempt rather than continue the fight. The punditry at large thought that Philadelphia-based Comcast's bid for its New York City rival — which was launched in February 2014 — would sail through antitrust reviews, however, the FCC virtually sealed its doom when they called for a hearing, a disruptive process that carried with it great implications for failure. Wheeler himself indicated...
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The GLBT community has suddenly become an outspoken proponent lobbying in favor of AT&T's proposed buy-out of T-Mobile. This merger has become an odd rallying point for organizations that normally have little interest in telecom deals. Until the past couple of weeks, most of the voices speaking up have been the usual suspects such as competitors applying to regulators to restrict the deal. Sprint even went so far as to file legal briefs with the FCC trying to get this merger blocked altogether, something that regulators haven't done in a zillion years. There's also been tech companies offering pro-merger support (more on that in a minute). But now there's this new wave of politically motivated,...
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Although we cannot think of a single recent instance where regulators flat-out refused a merger, Sprint is arguing that they should do so with the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile union. On Tuesday, Sprint filed a formal, 130-page request asking the FCC to block the merger, saying that even if AT&T divested itself of key assets, consumers would still be harmed. Sprint used a lot of harsh language in its request to the FCC and its press release. It said that the merger would create a "duopoly" -- meaning AT&T and Verizon -- which would own 76 percent of the wireless market between them. This so-called duopoly, would "stunt investment and innovation. No divestitures or conditions can remedy these...
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