(Reuters) - AT&T Inc's $49-billion bid for DirecTV is unlikely to be blocked by U.S. authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission have nearly finished their reviews, the Wall Street Journal reported. (http://on.wsj.com/1QFPUh2)
AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless provider, in May last year offered to buy DirecTV, the biggest satellite TV provider, to create the largest U.S. pay TV company.
Regulators may still decide to impose conditions on the deal, but do not appear to have serious concerns, the Journal reported.
FCC staff might recommend approving the deal with certain conditions that should be acceptable to AT&T, sources told the paper.
One of the possible conditions AT&T could agree to involves about how the company deals with streaming video, the Journal added.
AT&T and DirecTV were not immediately available for comment.
The deal highlights AT&T's pressing need for fresh avenues of growth beyond the maturing U.S. cellular business, which has become increasingly competitive.
DirecTV's shares were up 1.3 percent on Tuesday afternoon, while AT&T's were up marginally after the report.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
