Following Tuesday’s ruling from a federal judge, AT&T today has completed its acquisition of Time Warner. The deal, valued at $85 billion, was first announced in 2016 but faced a slew of regulatory delays due to antitrust concerns…
Now that the deal has been completed, Time Warner’s handful of media properties are now under the ownership of AT&T. This includes HBO, CNN, Warner Bros., and more. Critics of the deal say owning this content gives AT&T an unfair advantage and the ability to promote its own content over that from its competitors.
Time Warner will be combined with AT&T’s unnamed media arm. Former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes will remain with the company during the transition as a senior advisor. Once the transition is complete, he will report to John Stankey, AT&T’s media CEO.
In a memo to employees, shared by Brian Stelter of CNN, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson welcomed Time Warner employees to the company and said they will have the ability to continue exercising their creative freedom:
In AT&T’s press release announcing the deal, Stephenson said the content from Time Warner will let AT&T bring a “fresh approach” to how the media and entertainment industries work for consumers, creators, distributors, and advertisers:
At one point, it was rumored that Apple was interested in possibly acquiring Time Warner and was closely following the progress of the AT&T talks. That, however, never came to fruition.
The full press release is available here. The deal is sure to be controversial, so let us know what you think down in the comments!
