Why Mergers Like the AT&T-Time Warner Deal Should Go Through

Posted by Harvard Business Review

Why Mergers Like the AT&T-Time Warner Deal Should Go Through

By Larry Downes

Recent leaked reports suggest trouble for the proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner, an $85 billion deal first announced over a year ago. Last Wednesday, government sources claimed the Department of Justice’s antitrust division was demanding that AT&T sell Turner Broadcasting channels, including CNN, as a condition for approving the deal — and that AT&T had refused, setting up a possible court challenge.

Later stories reported it was AT&T that had offered to sell CNN. But CEO Randall Stephenson immediately denied both versions, and reiterated that the company will not let go of either CNN or the deal itself, pledging to fight the government if necessary.

Whatever the government actually plans to do about the merger, it will need to do it fast. Last Monday, AT&T exercised its right to complete the deal, giving the government less than a month to sue.

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