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Comcast wins conditional approval to buy AT&T unit
11/13 14:54
By Katherine Reynolds Lewis
Washington, Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Comcast Corp. won U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval to buy the largest U.S. cable-television business from AT&T Corp. for more than $51 billion, on the condition the merged company divest its stake in a media joint venture.
The commissioners voted 3 to 1 to allow the purchase, creating a company with 22 million cable customers in 41 states, the FCC said in a statement. The commission said the combined company must divest its interest in Time Warner Entertainment, a partnership with AOL Time Warner Inc.
``It's easy to react viscerally to the combination of any two large companies, but on the facts here, this combination solves problems, it does not create them,'' said Kenneth Ferree, chief of the FCC's media bureau.
Executives at both companies expect the purchase to close in a few days, they have said.
The FCC approval is the last regulatory hurdle that Comcast had to pass before completing the acquisition. In September, a 30- day waiting period for antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department expired, clearing the way for Comcast to complete the acquisition.
Comcast's Special Class A shares fell 88 cents to $23.12 at 2:48 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. AT&T fell 37 cents to $13.49 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
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