AT&T, Time Warner stocks rise amid report Brazil regulators will OK merger

AT&T’s and Time Warner’s stocks rose about 1% on Monday amid a report from Globo that Brazilian antitrust officials will sign off on AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

As Seeking Alpha points out, Globo says that Brazil officials plan to OK the deal during an Oct. 18 meeting. However, the report does not cite any sources or provide more specific details.

RELATED: AT&T says Time Warner deal is down to U.S., Brazil regulatory approval

When AT&T bought DirecTV for $48.5 billion in 2015, it acquired a 93% stake in Sky Brasil. Brazilian antitrust agency CADE in August signaled concerns since Sky Brasil broadcasts Time Warner content. One recommendation was for AT&T to consider selling off assets.

AT&T and Time Warner are currently down to just the U.S. and Brazil on the list of countries yet to have OK’d the deal. John Stankey, senior executive vice president of AT&T/Time Warner Merger Integration Planning, told investors earlier this month that AT&T didn’t see anything problematic with those two review processes and that the company still anticipates the merger will close by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, The Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE) signed off on the Time Warner deal with conditions.

AT&T said that Chile is requiring “targeted behavioral conditions to address specific competition issues” as part of the FNE’s approval of the transaction. However, the FNE’s approval won’t require AT&T or Time Warner to sell or divest any assets.

With Chile's approval, AT&T and Time Warner said they have received merger approval from 17 competition authorities outside the United States.