Stephenson Set to Go to Court to Fight TW Asset Sale Demands

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said his company is prepared to go to court to fight demands from the Justice Department that it sell assets as a condition for acquiring Time Warner.

Speaking at a New York Times Dealbook conference Thursday (Nov. 9), said he didn’t want to discuss what went on in AT&T’s meeting with the Justice Department Monday.

Reportedly, the Justice Department said AT&T would have to sell Time Warner’s Turner division, which includes CNN, or its own DirecTV unit in order to get the acquisition approved.

Related: Wall Street Looks at Options for Time Warner Assets

But Stephenson said he has not been told that selling CNN would be the price of getting the deal approved. And he reiterated that he has never offered to sell CNN, according to Seeking Alpha.

“Selling CNN Makes no sense” in a business built on mobile connectivity, he added.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.