AT&T closes $81B buy of Time Warner

WASHINGTON — AT&T completed its $81 billion takeover of Time Warner on Thursday, one of the biggest media deals ever. A federal judge approved the combination just two days earlier over objections by the Trump Justice Department that it would hurt consumers.

The merger could shape the way consumers stream TV and movies and how much they pay, and stands to usher in a new era of accelerating change and dealmaking in the media and telecom worlds.

The announcement came late Thursday from Dallasbased AT&T, a telephone, cable and satellite behemoth that now will own an array of TV networks and sought-after programming. The deadline to complete the merger was next week, but the closing came swiftly after the Justice Department signaled it wouldn’t ask the court to postpone the merger while it pondered an appeal of the judge’s decision.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled against the government’s attempt to block the megamerger on anti-competitive grounds. It was the first time in decades that the government had sued to block a merger of two companies that don’t compete directly with each other.

A Justice Department official said regulators will continue to consider a possible appeal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision on an appeal hasn’t been made.

Leon’s ruling followed a six-week trial that showcased the biggest legal wrangling over competition in decades. He rejected the government’s argument that the phone and pay-TV giant’s takeover of the entertainment conglomerate would hurt competition, limit choices and jack up prices for consumers to stream TV and movies.