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Bloomberg
Brazil’s antitrust watchdog weighed in on AT&T Inc.’s $85.4 billion deal for Time Warner Inc., saying it sees a high anti-competitive risk.
The nation’s telecommunications regulator had asked the antitrust agency known as Cade in June to review the deal, saying remedies should be adopted because it may negatively affect Brazil’s pay-TV market. The merger combines one of the world’s largest telecommunications providers with the owner of media properties like Warner Bros. and HBO. The deal would create a TV powerhouse in Brazil, where AT&T owns satellite provider Sky Brasil.
AT&T, which acquired a 93 percent stake in Sky as part of its $48.5 billion takeover of DirecTV in 2015, has been ambivalent about what it will do with the Brazilian pay-TV provider. Now with the Time Warner deal pending, the business could be a source of renewed focus.
“Both Sky and Time Warner have significant market power,†Cade said. AT&T is expected to close the deal by this year. Representatives for AT&T and Time Warner were not available for comment.