Attorneys at the Justice Department’s antitrust division are reportedly ready to recommend that Comcast’s $45.2 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable be blocked.
The deal was first announced back in February 2014. If the deal gets approved, the media conglomerate would take up a third of the market. Immediately after the deal was announced, consumer advocacy groups raised concerns, as it would mean Comcast would have 30 million subscribers.
Now, sources for Bloomberg say that the antitrust lawyers at the Justice Department are about to recommend that deputy assistant attorney general Renata Hesse and other officials file a federal lawsuit in order to stop the deal from happening.
One of Bloomberg’s sources said that the lawyers have been talking with third parties to get evidence to back up their recommendation. Both the Justice Department and the FCC are not talking with Comcast about moves the company could make to avoid the lawsuit. That would possibly include selling off parts of the business.
Both TWC and Comcast told Bloomberg that there is no reason for the Justice Department to block the deal. TWC spokesman Bobby Amirshahi even said that they have been working with the DOJ and FCC.
Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice added that the merger would be beneficial to consumers, bringing “faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business services resulting in billions of dollars of cost savings.”
The Justice Department didn’t comment on Bloomberg’s report.