AT&T executives spend “zero effort” worrying about the federal government’s latest attempt to block a merger with Time Warner, the telecommunication firm’s top executive said on Wednesday.
A federal judge approved the $81 billion deal earlier this year, but the Department of Justice appealed the decision, claiming the ruling ignored economics and common sense.
Experts say Justice is unlikely to be succeed, given that Time Warner and AT&T do not compete directly at the same point in the supply chain. So-called vertical mergers are rarely challenged by the federal government. AT&T’s chief executive officer seems to agree, calling the DOJ’s initial lawsuit “not a very good case, not a very compelling case.”
“We feel very good about where we stand on appeal; the transaction is closed, and we’re about executing,” Randall Stephenson said at a Goldman Sachs communications conference. “The teams are spending zero effort thinking about this appeal.”
Stephenson said he expects the combined AT&T and Time Warner to be more successful in 2019 as the two businesses integrate and take advantage of new advertising capabilities.
“The ability to monetize advertising subscription models are going to be critical going forward,” he said. “The advertising models will be very, very important. We think we have the elements that are going to be required to stand up a very impressive advertising business.”
[Also read: FCC pauses review of T-Mobile-Sprint merger]
