AT&T’s Clash in D.C. Threatens Chill on Consolidation in Media

Nov. 13, 2017, 2:28 PM UTC

Media executives dreaming of megamergers got a wake-up call this week: the Trump administration isn’t the rubber stamp they’d once thought it would be.

In media circles, the Trump presidency was seen as ushering in a new era of consolidation, largely because Republican administrations are thought to be more business-friendly.

Now, Washington is no longer considered a sure thing. In the first major test of its approach to merger reviews in the Trump era, the Justice Department has pushed back against AT&T Inc.’s $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc., throwing the deal into jeopardy.

AT&T had expected the deal ...

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