AT&T continues to pull in approvals for its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. Chilean regulators were the latest to approve the merger, bringing the number of approvals from competition authorities outside the United States to 17.
The Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE) signed off on the deal, but with “targeted behavioral conditions” to remedy certain competitive issues identified in its review.
However the FNE’s approval doesn’t require the sale or divestiture of any assets from either company.
“The AT&T-Time Warner merger will combine premium content with the networks to deliver that content on any screen viewers want,” David McAtee, senior executive vice president and general counsel for AT&T, commented. “We appreciate the FNE’s diligent work to evaluate and approve this merger on the strength of its benefits to competition in Chile and, most importantly, Chilean consumers.”
While AT&T is still working to gain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Wall Street Journal indicated AT&T is making headway in its discussions with the DOJ, and had reached an “advanced stage.” More on that here.
AT&T previously indicated it expects to close the deal by the end of 2017.