AT&T Creates A Plan To Convince Justice Department For Allowing T-Mobile Merger

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) will be pitching some new ideas to the Justice Department to receive an allowance to purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion. If the deal does not go through, AT&T will have to pay T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom about $7 billion in cash and spectrum resources. One of the ideas is that AT&T would have to sell 25% of T-Mobile’s business and airwaves to make the merger feel like less of an antitrust issue. “AT&T is pretty determined that they can find a solution, and they are pretty confident,” stated an anonymous sources with Reuters.

This past Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that they plan to block the merger based on anti-trust. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington D.C. was randomly selected for the hearing and is known for speedy rulings. AT&T requested for an expedited hearing to take place in less than two months.

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom has some powerful lawyers on their roster. AT&T’s lead attorney is Richard Rosen of Arnold & Porter LLP. Rosen oversaw Cingular’s $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless. Rosen was also the head of communications at the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Deutsche Telekom’s lawyer is George Cary, an antitrust lawyer that helped the Federal Trade Commission fight against Office Depot’s merger with Staples in 1997.

[Reuters]

Related posts:

1. U.S. Justice Department Attempting To Block AT&T and T-Mobile Merger
2. Ups and Downs: XM Loses AOL Deal, But Gets Sirius Radio Merger Approval From Justice Department
3. Apple Being Investigated By Justice Department For Digital Music Sales
4. AT&T and T-Mobile Merger: Consolidation of the U.S. Mobile Industry [INFOGRAPHIC]
5. Why Google Paid $500 Million To Justice Department