Giving further shape to the regulatory gauntlet the proposed AT&T (NYSE: T)/DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) merger will have to run, the Senate Judiciary committee announced Friday that it will hold a hearing on the matter June 24.
The Hill reports that the Antitrust subcommittee session will be held in the afternoon after the House Judiciary Committee conducts its own morning hearing on the proposed deal, valued at approximately $49 billion.
The Senate announcement comes just one day after House Commerce Communications subcommittee chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) announced that his panel would resist pleas from Democratic colleagues and not hold hearings on either the AT&T/DirecTV deal or the similarly proposed Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)/Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) merger.
Earlier this week, AT&T outlined its vision for the proposed deal to the Federal Communications Commission, describing it as a marriage of complimentary assets that will increase competition and consumer choice rather than hinder them.
"Through this combination, the companies will marry complementary assets to achieve what they could not achieve separately or through a contractual arrangement: a compelling bundle of video and broadband services," the AT&T filing reads.
For more:
- read this story from The Hill
Related links:
No hearings on pay-TV giants' mergers, House committee chair says
AT&T promises FCC cheaper cable, more rural broadband, net neutrality compliance
Moffett: AT&T-DirecTV deal will get done, but not without regulatory 'perspiration'