Threat of Regulatory Challenge Loomed Over Dropped Deals

Regulators in Washington won not one but two major merger battles -- without even firing a shot. In telecommunications, Sprint abandoned a bid for its rival T-Mobile.

And in media and entertainment, 21st Century Fox dropped its pursuit of Time Warner. Both deals were proposed mergers of direct competitors, which often reduce competition and, as a result, usually attract heightened scrutiny from regulators.

In neither case did the Justice Department or the Federal Communications Commission announce a formal position, and in Fox’s bid, the antitrust division and the Federal Trade Commission, which share jurisdiction, hadn’t even decided which agency would conduct the inquiry. But the threat of action may have been enough -- certainly so in Sprint’s case, and at least something that had to be seriously considered in Fox’s case.