AT&T Closes Acquisition of Time Warner

AT&T announced it had completed its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The Justice Department still has 60 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal, even if the companies close the merger, and such a filing remained a possibility. There was a time limit on when the government could seek an injunction, because the merger agreement between the companies expires on June 21. If an injunction had been granted, the companies would have had to extend the date or AT&T would have had to pay Time Warner $500 million in what is known as a reverse termination fee.

AT&T can now take advantage of Time Warner’s business to develop new lines of revenue. The phone giant plans to marry its subscriber data with Time Warner’s TV networks to sell targeted advertising, which sells at higher rates. The company is also looking to tap its creative engine to generate new forms of video for mobile devices.