US cableco Comcast intends to file antitrust documentation for its planned US$45.2bn takeover of Time Warner Cable (TWC) by the end of March.
Comcast is required to submit documentation to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the end of the…
US cableco Comcast intends to file antitrust documentation for its planned US$45.2bn takeover of Time Warner Cable (TWC) by the end of March.
Comcast is required to submit documentation to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the end of the month and intends to file with the appropriate antitrust authority around the same time, a company spokesperson said.
The filing will kick off the initial 30 day waiting period under US antitrust regulation, the Hart Scott Rodino Antirust Improvements Act (HSR).
If the waiting period expires without antitrust authorities Federal Trade Commission or Department of Justice issuing a second request for further information, the transaction is considered cleared.
A second request will be issued if the regulator in charge concludes based on its preliminary investigation that the proposed merger might have anticompetitive consequences.
The transaction cannot close prior to clearance.
Comcast and TWC – America’s two largest cablecos – announced the all-stock deal last week.
Antitrust experts told TelecomFinance that Comcast is unlikely to have too many problems getting a deal over the line.
Dana Frix, managing partner at Chadbourne & Parke’s Washington DC office, said that this was in large part down to the way Comcast had gone about its business.
“Comcast has positioned itself as a white knight, and they’ve done that from a corporate perspective but also from a regulatory perspective,” he explained, referencing the fact that it had muscled out hostile bidder Charter Communications.
Seth Bloom, former general counsel to the senate antitrust subcommittee, took a similar view.
“From an antitrust point of view this deal might not be that consequential because, for consumers, these companies don’t compete … I think it’s very unlikely to get blocked.”
Comcast EVP David Cohen has also played down the likelihood of regulatory hurdles, telling investors that it is “simply not a horizontal merger” as Comcast and TWC do not compete in the same American zip codes.
