Deals
AT&T Dealt Defeat on T-Mobile After $12 Million in Lobbying
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The U.S. move to block AT&T Inc.’s purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc. marks a rare Washington defeat for the largest U.S. phone company, a failure deal opponents called a triumph of antitrust analysis over lobbying muscle.
As it sought regulators’ blessing for the transaction, AT&T boosted lobbying spending by 30 percent to $11.7 million in the first six months of 2011 from the same period last year, according to Senate records. Its PAC gave $805,500 to federal candidates this year, more than any other company, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group.