According to industry analysts and lawyers, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) must shed assets to satisfy the US officials, who are resisting their bids to take over Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC).
Also, the shedding is required if Comcast wants to preserve the deal’s value.
Moreover, they also say that the largest cable company of the US could sell subscribers in the major markets as well, such as New York, Los Angeles etc. if it wants to appease regulators. If not this, another option for them could be to sell its one-third stake in Internet video service Hulu. It is said that Hulu has an appreciable growth potential since the consumers have increased watching television online.
The company had earlier met with the officials from the Federal Communications Commission and their representatives have tried to gauge the extent of objections from the Justice Department during a meeting. The meeting was held at Wednesday afternoon. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) seems to be trying hard to prevent a possible lawsuit by the government. This lawsuit would help the government to investigate if the ‘enlarged company’ will enjoy a large control over the national broadband internet service.
Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson believes that it is becoming clear that the Department of Justice and the FCC “want to reject” the deal. But the issue at the moment would be to see if this is something, which they can legally do. However, he also believes that should they decide that they have a pretty strong case, there will be nothing that could fix it.
Moreover, Spokesmen for the Department of Justice and the FCC were not available to comment on this matter on Wednesday’s meeting. Also, Spokesmen for Comcast and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) were also unavailable to comment.
However, the lawyers of antitrust division of Justice Department will be placing their bets against the deal. They are also trying to prepare strong arguments, which could be used in a lawsuit to block the matter.
