Considering the proposed $261 million purchase of Oregon's BendBroadband by Chicago-based Telephone and Data Systems, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have signed off on the antitrust portion of their regulatory process.
Multichannel News reports that the proposed merger has been granted an early termination of its Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review. The remaining hurdle: the Federal Communications Commission must decide whether the purchase serves the interest of consumers and harms competition.
The BendBroadband umbrella encompasses Bend Cable Communications, Bend Cable Data Services and Central Oregon Cable Advertising, as well as Zolo Media, owner of ABC-affiliated TV station KOHD and CBS affiliate KBNZ.
The deal was announced May 2. TDS has said that all 280 BendBroadband employees will keep in their jobs. The company will also maintain its name and branding.
Publicly traded TDS has 5.9 million customers nationwide. It provides telecommunications services to 4.8 million wireless customers and 1.1 million wireline and cable connections, according to the company's Security and Exchange Commission filings.
For more:
- read this Multichannel News story
- read this story from The Bend Bulletin
Related links:
TDS ups cable strategy with $261M BendBroadband acquisition
Oregon cable operator BendBroadband killing fixed LTE service, sells its 700 MHz and AWS spectrum
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