Deals
Pfizer to GE Mergers Raise Politicians’ Ire Amid Shaky Recovery
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Amid the raft of multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions this year, a new player has entered negotiations: politicians.
Two Congressional committees are studying AT&T Inc.’s $48.5 billion takeover of DirecTV, while Comcast Corp.’s $45.2 billion offer for Time Warner Cable Inc. faced tough questioning last month at a House hearing. Politicians are also trying to crack down on overseas mergers intended to escape U.S. corporate taxes. Across the Atlantic, U.K. lawmakers fought Pfizer Inc.’s shelved $118 billion offer for AstraZeneca Plc, and their French counterparts have challenged General Electric Co.’s $17 billion bid for Alstom SA’s power assets.