The Obama administration on Wednesday filed to block AT&T's (T.N) proposed $39 billion acquisition of wireless rival T-Mobile USA because of anti-competitive concerns. The Justice Department said the acquisition would "remove a significant competitive force" with AT&T and T-Mobile competing in at least 97 of the top 100 U.S. wireless markets, according to court papers obtained by Reuters. Blocking the acquisition on antitrust grounds would deal a blow to the telecommunication giant's expansion plans. The deal falling through would cost AT&T, which promised to pay a cash breakup fee of $3 billion on top of giving spectrum to T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE).
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 4.84% or $-1.435/share to $28.18. 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 54870136.
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