Justice US approves the purchase of Time Warner by AT&T

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T, won Tuesday the green light, without condition, the us court for the acquisition of Time Warner for $ 85 billion (72 billion euros), an operation that will allow him to compete with the internet groups that dominate the market of digital advertising and providing new sources of income.

The buyback, announced in October 2016, has been authorized by a court of the district of Colombia, at the end of a six-week trial, brought by the Justice department.

The title of the telecoms operator american owner of the television network DirecTV, which lost 2.6% in electronic transactions after the stock Exchange, while Time Warner, the parent company, in particular to the tv channel CNN, was 3.8 per cent.

In the same sector, the action Sprint progresses 2.8%, Dish Network up 3% and T-Mobile of 1.2%.

The takeover of Time Warner by AT&T is regarded as a turning point in the media sector, in the face of competition from groups like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGLE) who produce content and sell it directly on internet, without any subscription to cable. The green light of justice could trigger a wave of concentration in the sector.

(Diane Bartz and David Shepardson, Juliette Rouillon for the French service)