Merck to Buy Schering-Plough in Latest Pharma Merger

Wireless giant ends $39B bid to buy T-Mobile

(AP) - AT&T Inc. said today that it is ending its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA after facing fierce government objections. The cell phone giant said that the actions of the US government to block the deal do not change the challenges of the wireless phone industry, which it says requires more airwaves, known as spectrum, to expand. The deal would have solved that problem for a time, and without it, "customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled," AT&T said in a statement. More»

Urges FCC, Justice Department to block it on anti-trust grounds

(NEWSER) - AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile must be blocked on antitrust grounds, Sen. Herb Kohl declared today. The chair of the Senate subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights released a letter urging the FCC and Justice Department to step in before the two phone companies get hitched, the Wall Street Journal reports. The merger, he warned, “would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust laws and not in the public interest.” The Senate is powerless, however, to interfere directly in the transaction. More»

The consensus: 'Ma Bell is back'

(NEWSER) - Reactions to the surprise AT&T-T-mobile merger are pouring in, and, not surprisingly, most conclude this isn't a good thing for consumers:

• The Bell telephone system—"aka AT&T"—was broken up in 1984 to increase competition, and the US telecommunications market was deregulated in 1996, again to increase competition. But this merger "effectively restores Ma Bell to her former girth yet allows the company to operate in a looser regulatory environment," writes David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times . "Consumers might wonder if they've been played. ... Ma Bell is back," and the only thing left for federal regulators to do is instill "new rules that address the shortcomings of our failed experiment in deregulation."

Antitrust officials weigh concessions for Live Nation deal to pass

(NEWSER) - Concerned Justice Department are considering blocking a deal that would create a music industry behemoth—unless major concessions are made. Antitrust officials are worried about the effect the proposed Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger would have on consumer cost and may require the companies to make major concessions, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. Opponents of the deal warn it could create "a virtual monopoly in the ticketing industry." More»

Chief execs becoming more bullish about recovery prospects

(NEWSER) - Mergers and acquisitions activity is still way down from pre-financial crisis levels, but a recent flurry of big deals suggests America's chief executives are regaining confidence in their own businesses. Recent mergers have involved strategic buys by big companies instead of the debt-fueled private equity buys seen a couple of years ago. That bodes well for a strong recovery, analysts tell the New York Times. More»