On Friday, AT&T shares fell 1.7% to close at $31.67. Earlier, US government officials said they would appeal the federal judge's decision to approve the $85.4 billion deal last month. Stephenson told the media that the initial The court decision is reasonable.
'On the day of the judgment, the law is on our side,' he said. 'We think the possibility of the initial judgment being overturned or overturned is very small.'
The acquisition was first announced in October 2016 and it was opposed by US President Donald Trump. AT&T suffered a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice for antitrust reasons. But judge Richard Leon It is believed that the government has failed to prove that the price will rise after the merger, so the merger transaction should be allowed to continue.
Credit rating agency Fitch said in a statement that it believes the initial judgment will be maintained, but acknowledges that the panel of appeal judges composed of three judges may not be supported. Securities rating agency Moody's In a statement, AT&T's credit rating remains unchanged.
After AT&T was sued by the US Department of Justice for antitrust reasons, analyst Raymond James downgraded AT&T's stock rating from 'outperform' to 'market perform'. James claimed that the news was 'a negative catalyst for the stock'.
James wrote, 'This will lead to a longer period of uncertainty, which is not conducive to stock price appreciation.'
Last month, the approval of the Time Warner deal led to Comcast Corp. and Walt Disney Co, to furtherize most of the film and television assets of 21st Century Fox. The bidding war began. Disney has obtained approval from the US antitrust regulator for the acquisition.
Stephenson told the media that the dispute may damage Comcast's chances of winning. Comcast is an important cable service provider, and AT&T owns satellite service giant DirecTV. He said: 'This does affect The process. The situation is that both entities are bidding for an asset, and this behavior may affect the outcome.
In Washington, Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general of the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, recently defended the decision of the Ministry of Justice to file a preliminary lawsuit last year.
Draghi said in a column published in the Washington Times on Thursday that 'the Justice Department's Antimonopoly Bureau has proposed a number of settlements, including divesting assets, but both parties will only accept so-called 'Behavior' remedies, including promises not to take anti-competitive behavior.'
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal supported the appeal. He posted a tweet on Twitter saying, ''From the moment of the acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T has shown its true face and improved The price for consumers. '
AT&T recently announced a price increase. It raised the monthly price of wireless users for non-traffic-restricted packages by $5. It also informed users that it would raise the monthly price of its Internet streaming service, DirecTV Now, by $5.
Moffett Nathanson's analyst wrote, 'We are not sure that the judge of Richard Leon will be upheld on appeal.'