Comcast may not get its way on this one.
According to sources connected with the U.S. Justice Department, Comcast’s bid for Time Warner Cable won’t be an easy sell. In fact, it now appears that the proposed acquisition will be blocked.
“Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide cable giant are leaning against the merger out of concern that consumers would be harmed…” Bloomberg reports. “The division’s senior officials will then decide whether to file a federal lawsuit seeking to block the tie-up.”
We’re told a formal decision could be made public by next week.
The DOJ’s antitrust lawyers haven’t yet completed their recommendation and so Comcast officials are trying to stay optimistic.
“There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” Sena Fitzmaurice, a Comcast spokeswoman, tells Bloomberg. The acquisition “will result in significant consumer benefits — faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business services resulting in billions of dollars of cost savings.”
