AT&T's $85.4 billion deal for Time Warner wins EU thumbs-up

[March 15, 2017]  (Reuters) - AT&T Inc has won approval from the European Commission for its planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier said on Wednesday.

A Time Warner logo is seen at a Time Warner store in New York City, October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo

The merger, which still requires approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, is expected to close by the end of the year, AT&T said.

During his election campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump had said that he opposes the merger, and in January a transition official told Reuters that Trump was still against the deal.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission does not expect to review the deal, a spokesman for the agency said last month.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

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