AT&T Gets Green Light From European Commission For Time Warner Inc. Acquisition

AT&T Inc. had some great news on Wednesday that inches the tech giant closer and closer to acquiring Time Warner Inc.

The European Commission has granted AT&T Inc. approval for its planned acquisition of Time Warner Inc. for $85.4 billion, or 70.1 billion pounds.

The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier still needs approval from the U.S. Department of Justice who is reviewing documents submitted on the proposed merger. The department would have to prove a proposed deal harms competition in order to block it.

According to a spokesman for the agency, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is not expecting to review the deal.

“We appreciate the skilled work of the European Commission’s team for their timely effort to analyze and clear the AT&T-Time Warner merger,” said Bob Quinn, senior executive vp AT&T external and legislative affairs.

He went on to say, “This is an important approval from a highly respected authority. The global clearance process is on track, and we look forward to creating a company that will lead the next wave of innovation in the media and telecommunications industries.”

President Donald Trump has been against the deal throughout his campaign and still opposes the merger. He has said his administration would not allow the deal but AT&T executives have said that there was no precedent for blocking the transaction outright.

AT&T expects the deal to close by the end of the year.

Disclaimer: We have no position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) nor Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and have not been compensated for this article.