AT&T (T) appeared on the verge of closing the Time Warner (TWX) merger in the near term until the news from Brazil today. A top regulator has concerns about the competitive threat of the merger.
AT&T remains under threat from a competitive domestic market where wireless and pay-TV customers are a struggle to keep. The big question is whether the merger problems alter the investment thesis in either AT&T or Time Warner?
According to Bloomberg, the Brazilian antitrust agency called CADE published a recommendation that the merger be rejected unless changes to the merger agreement are made. The agency is concerned about AT&T owning 93% of Sky Brazil and owning the content from Time Warner like HBO.
