The U.S. Justice Department is expected to approve DigitalGlobe Inc's acquisition of smaller rival GeoEye Inc later this month, according to three sources familiar with the review. Antitrust officials last month had raised critical questions about the proposed merger, which will leave the United States with only one commercial satellite imagery provider, but are now "inching forward to a positive approval," said one source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.A second source said U.S. officials were not happy about the loss of a second source of the commercial imagery, but recognized that Pentagon budget cuts had undercut the business case for a second provider."All indications are that they going to hold their noses and approve it," said the source, who was also not authorized to speak publicly.The sources said they expected the Justice Department to wrap up its review by mid-January, but cautioned that no final decision had been made.
GeoEye, Inc. (GeoEye) is a provider of geospatial information and insight for decision makers and analysts. Shares of GEOY traded higher by 4.01% or $1.31/share to $33.99. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.87 and as high as $33.23. On average, 175066 shares of GEOY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 171289.
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