FSF: DOJ Rejecting AT&T/TW 'Unprecedented'; BTIG Says Comcast Unlikely Buyer
Any DOJ condition of sale of some Time Warner channels in AT&T buying TW would be "unprecedented" for a vertical merger, wrote Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Fellow Theodore Bolema in an opinion piece in The Hill Friday.…
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"It will have a challenge in court explaining why this case deviates from antitrust enforcement precedent in which, at most, behavioral conditions were sufficient." BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said it's "nearly impossible" to imagine Comcast getting regulatory OK for significant content or distribution acquisitions under this administration, and if DOJ sues to block AT&T/TW or forces a divestiture of Turner or DirecTV, "it is not far-fetched" to think an attempted government breakup of Comcast/NBCUniversal could come. He pooh-poohed Comcast/NBCUniversal buying Fox but envisioned a Comcast split if vertical integration is a legal issue, with the result being two public companies: Comcast and Sky holdings on one side, NBCU and Fox on the other. Event Driven reported DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim (see 1711160056) said he's “absolutely” confident in his team if AT&T/TW is litigated and the agency will decide how to proceed "in due course." AT&T hired a lawyer to help in that potential effort (see the personals section of this issue of this publication.)