Federal Judge OKs AT&T PR, USVI Sale to Liberty With Spins

 In a deal struck Thursday, a federal court okayed an agreement between AT&T and Liberty Latin America. A U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia approved the sale of AT&T’s Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island operations for close to $2 billion if certain assets are divested.

The case began in October 2019, when Liberty Latin America Ltd. agreed to buy AT&T’s wireless and wireline operations on those islands for $1.95 billion in cash. In the complaint filed by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, the DOJ said Liberty competes with AT&T for wireline customers in Puerto Rico over fiber optic networks they own there. Their enterprise customers are businesses of all sizes as well as institutions, such as universities, hospitals, and government agencies.

When the transaction closes, Liberty would take ownership of certain AT&T assets in Puerto Rico, including its wireless and wireline networks, wireless spectrum, contracts, real estate, and most of AT&T’s customer relationships on the island. Originally, the DOJ said the deal would lessen competition in that market for telecom services. Continue Reading