Tara Lachapelle, Columnist

AT&T Investors, Prepare for a Cash Tug-of-War

As the carrier closes a megadeal and builds a faster network, investors will have to duke it out for leftover cash.

July 26, 2017 at 3:18 PM UTC

By Tara Lachapelle

Tara Lachapelle is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering entertainment, telecommunications and deals.

1501083113_pic — Photographer: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

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Get ready for a tug of war over AT&T's Inc. cash because once the Time Warner Inc. megadeal closes that money will need to stretch further than it ever has before.

AT&T is in the process of wrapping up its $109 billion acquisition of the TV-network and movie-studio owner, a bet that bundling Time Warner's content with AT&T's distribution will create a must-have service to keep customers from switching. Bloomberg News reported Monday that U.S. antitrust officials have progressed to talks with the companies about potential closing conditions, which suggests the government lawyers have nearly finished their review. And on Tuesday's second-quarter earnings call, AT&T management reiterated that it expects to be done with the transaction by year-end.