AT&T Thursday completed its purchase of Time Warner Inc., as U.S. District Judge Richard Leon authorized it to do so after the Justice Department decided not to request a delay that could have held up the combination. (WSJ)
Time Warner head Jeff Bewkes is now officially the former chairman and CEO of the company; he will be a senior adviser during a transition period, AT&T said. Bewkes’ direct reports will now report to John Stankey, who is the CEO of AT&T’s media business. (CNN)
On Tuesday, Leon ruled against the government’s attempt to block the megamerger on anti-competitive grounds. The Trump administration had opposed the merger, which promises to join one of the country’s biggest telecom providers with a media powerhouse that owns the Warner Bros. movie studio and DC Comics as well as the cable TV networks CNN, HBO, TBS and TNT. (CBS News / AP)
The government is said to still be considering whether to appeal the case, but it declined to exercise an option to try to stay the transaction in the meantime. The DOJ had until Monday to decide whether to do so. (Variety)
AT&T said its wireless division, the nation’s second-largest, will have “no role in setting Turner’s prices or other terms to unaffiliated distributors” and that it will implement a “firewall between Turner and AT&T Communications” to prevent improper sharing of information or pricing. (CNBC)