Threat Of Antitrust Enforcement Is Said to Squelch Two Major Deals

Two mega-mergers never got off the blocks because the would-be deal makers thought it likely they would be challenged by antitrust regulators if they went ahead, writes James B. Stewart in the New York Times. Both aborted deals – Sprint and T-Mobile, and 21st Century Fox and Time Warner – involved major players that had significant market share and were direct competitors. William J. Baer, who heads the Department of Justice antitrust division, told Stewart that because the Obama administration has made it clear that it’s prepared to challenge “problematic” transactions, “companies are thinking long and hard about whether they want to take us on.”