Government Suit to Block AT&T Acquisition of T-Mobile Stayed

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

The federal district court in Washington, D.C. on December 12 stayed further proceedings in a federal/state enforcement action seeking to block AT&T Corporation’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. from Deutsche Telekom.

The stay came at the request of the Justice Department and AT&T. The parties must inform the court by January 12, 2012, of the status of the proposed transaction.

The Justice Department, seven states, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico allege in the suit that the combination of two of the four largest providers of mobile wireless telecommunications services would violate the antitrust laws. (See “Department of Justice Seeks to Block AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile,” Trade Regulation Talk, August 31, 2011).

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom are “actively considering whether and how to revise our current transaction to achieve the necessary regulatory approvals,” according to a December 12 AT&T statement.

The stay order in U.S. v. AT&T Inc. appears here on the Department of Justice Antitrust Division website.