US telecoms giant AT&T has completed acquisition of the entertainment major Time Warner, having won a court battle earlier this week. The deal brings Warner Bros., HBO and Turner into AT&T’s portfolio, thus making it one of the biggest players in Hollywood. In the wake of the recent acquisition, AT&T has also renamed its business arm to WarnerMedia. The more than $80 billion deal has been two years in the making and led to one of the largest US anti-trust lawsuits in decades. AT&T argues that it needed to acquire Time Warner to compete with online streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. The landmark deal between the firms will now see well-known franchises like Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman and CNN under the roof of the pay-TV provider. Jeff Bewkes, former chairman and chief executive officer or Time Warner will stay on with the company as a senior advisor through the transition period. He is expected to retire following the transition. The deal is also likely to kick start an era of bidding wars among other telecoms and internet-based juggernauts. Comcast has already trumped Disney’s bid for 21 Century Fox and many are expecting similar discussions to be circling the likes of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google in the near future.
