AT&T's DirecTV Bid Nearing Approval: Report

(RTTNews) - AT&T Inc. (T) entered into a tentative agreement with antitrust regulators to help pave the way for its proposed $49 billion acquisition of satellite-TV company DirecTV (DTV), the New York Post reported.

The report indicated that AT&T has agreed to unspecified conditions in order to win approval from the Justice Department for the bid.

The paper said that the Justice Department, which issued a second request for information six weeks ago for more information, will likely sign off on the deal in next few months.

The Federal Communications Commission still has not ruled on the merger and is in the public-comment process.

If the DOJ and FCC are of the same mind, the merger may clear both agencies in the first quarter, the report said.

In May, AT&T agreed to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion in a cash and stock deal. AT&T was offering DirecTV shareholders $95.00 a share, with $28.50 to be paid in cash and $66.50 in AT&T stock. AT&T planned to fund the cash portion through a combination of cash on hand, sale of assets, committed financing facilities and opportunistic debt market transactions. The transaction had a total value of $67.1 billion, including DirectTV's net debt.