US: AT&T exec meets with Trump on Time Warner deal

Donald Trump is slated to meet with top AT&T executives Thursday to discuss the company’s proposed $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner, according to people familiar with the matter. The president-elect has said he opposes the deal.

The meeting will be at Trump Tower in New York, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting isn’t public. AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson will be among the attendees, one of the people said.

Winning approval for the transaction is essential for Stephenson’s plan to turn the telecommunications giant into a media powerhouse, gaining the producer of some of the world’s most popular TV shows and movies. One of Stephenson’s previous megamerger attempts, a 2011 deal to acquire T-Mobile USA, now T-Mobile US, was derailed by the Obama administration.

In October, before the election, Trump said his administration wouldn’t approve the merger, saying, “It’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.” He cited the deal as “an example of the power structure I’m fighting.”

Full content: Chicago Tribune

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