Deals
AT&T, U.S. Prepare to Battle in Court Over Time Warner Merger
- Challenge by Trump’s new antitrust chief threatens megadeal
- AT&T chief says the suit ‘defies logic and is unprecedented’
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A defiant Randall Stephenson told antitrust enforcers that AT&T Inc. would see them in court after the Justice Department sued to block the company’s $85.4 billion bid to buy Time Warner Inc.
The lawsuit “stretches the very idea of antitrust law beyond the breaking point,” Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive officer, said at a briefing Monday. He left the door open for negotiations to find a way for the deal to pass federal muster -- but reiterated that he wouldn’t sell CNN to appease Washington, whether the deal was influenced by President Donald Trump or not. AT&T’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, said the company is prepared to go to trial in as few as 60 days.