The U.S. government sued to block AT&T's (T.N) $39 billion deal to purchase T-Mobile USA because of anti-competition concerns, launching the biggest challenge to a takeover by the Obama administration. A failed deal would be expensive for AT&T, which plans to fight the government's decision in court. It promised to pay a breakup fee worth an estimated $6 billion, including $3 billion in cash, spectrum and a roaming agreement for T-Mobile USA. The Justice Department, in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, said eliminating T-Mobile as a competitor would be disastrous for consumers and would raise prices, particularly because the smaller provider offers low prices. "Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer," said Sharis Pozen, acting head of the Justice Department's antitrust division.
AT&T Inc. is a holding company. The Company is a provider of telecommunications services in the United States and worldwide. Shares of T fell by 4.2% or $-1.2445/share to $28.38. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.06 and as high as $31.94. On average, 28001700 shares of T exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 69142536.
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