Mergers & Acquisitions | featured news

The exchange operators extended the deadline for completing their planned tie-up to March 31 while European competition authorities continue an in-depth probe of the deal.

AT&T acknowledged that it could not overcome opposition from the Obama administration to creating the nation’s biggest cellphone service provider. The company said in a statement that it would continue to invest in wireless spectrum, but could not overcome resistance from both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. It added that American wireless customers “will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled” by the regulators’ decisions.

AT&T and T-Mobile on Monday asked a federal judge to postpone an antitrust lawsuit as the companies were assessing “whether and how” to proceed with their $39 billion mega-merger. The announcement signals that the deal as originally conceived is all but dead. The two companies could still seek ways to retool the terms to address the concerns of regulators.

Australia's government approved on Friday SABMiller's A$11.5 billion ($11.2 billion) deal to acquire Foster's Group Ltd under foreign acquisitions laws, but imposed conditions requiring the company to keep brewing operations in Australia.

AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover of T-Mobile USA fails, a tacit recognition of the dwindling chances that the deal will get through U.S. regulators who say it would destroy jobs and curb competition.

AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in the final quarter, the value of a breakup fee and spectrum assets possibly owed Deutsche Telekom, an acknowledgment that the company's proposed takeover of T-Mobile faces an increasingly uphill battle.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will request an administrative hearing on the proposed $39 billion acquisition... The decision by the chairman, Julius Genachowski, puts a second large roadblock in front of AT&T, the nation’s second-largest wireless phone company, in its effort to buy T-Mobile, the No. 4 carrier. In August, the Justice Department filed a federal antitrust lawsuit to block the merger, saying it would stifle competition.

AT&T pushed back the expected closing dates for its purchases of T-Mobile USA and a block of Qualcomm spectrum by as much as three months as it battles regulatory scrutiny.

From the department of weird ideas: AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is apparently out peddling the idea that the company could sell itself to Yahoo. Question is, what makes him think Yahoo is buying? Reuters is reporting that Armstrong has been meeting with shareholders in recent weeks pushing the notion that an AOL/Yahoo combination could result ...

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and six other state attorneys general join the Justice Department's antitrust suit, say the deal would result in less competition in the wireless market.