Special purpose acquisition company dMY Technology completed its acquisition of Planet Labs (see 2107070001), the earth imaging satellite operator told the FCC International Bureau Wednesday. Planet Labs is going public via the SPAC deal.

FuboTV closed its buy of French live TV streaming company Molotov, it said Wednesday. Molotov will continue to be based in Paris and be led by founder JeanDavid Blanc, who was named president, reporting to fuboTV CEO David Gandler. Molotov brings to fuboTV’s international business a freemium model that it hopes will help drive upsell opportunities for premium add-on channel packages, said the virtual MVPD. Molotov operates in France, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon and expects to launch soon in the Congo; it operates in Morocco through a partnership with Maroc Telecom. The deal was originally expected to close in Q1 (see 2111100003).

Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington led a Monday letter with 29 other congressional Democrats urging DOJ to investigate AT&T’s planned spinoff of WarnerMedia to Discovery for potential antitrust law violations. The letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ Antitrust Division head Jonathan Kanter is the first major federal resistance to the deal, which is to close in mid-2022 (see 2110210052). “The merger threatens to enhance the market power of the combined firm and substantially lessen competition in the media and entertainment industry,” the Democrats wrote Garland and Kanter, saying DOJ must “conduct a thorough review of this transaction to ensure that it does not harm American consumers and workers by illegally harming competition.” The lawmakers want the department “to thoroughly" examine if WarnerMedia-Discovery "will reduce the amount of diverse and inclusive media and entertainment content.” A “more consolidated, less competitive marketplace may only reduce the competitive pressure on media companies to provide consumers with more diverse and inclusive programming,” they said. Other signers include Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. AT&T CEO John Stankey said at a UBS investor conference the letter's concerns were "unfounded." Letters from members of Congress aren't unusual, and happen in most AT&T transactions due to the company's size and scope, he said. "There is always going to be those who have a different lens they want to put on something." AT&T has had "good and constructive discussions" with regulators, and the transaction so far is going to plan, he said. "I have seen nothing that has gone on in that process that is out of pattern or out of skew." The company should be able to publicly demonstrate progress in the regulatory review in Q1, he said. AT&T and Discovery didn’t comment further.

If the FTC concludes in an administrative law trial that Nvidia’s proposed $40 billion Arm buy violates the FTC Act or the Sherman Act, the commission may order the companies to give “prior notice” of any “combinations of their businesses with any other company,” said a redacted public version Monday of the complaint the agency filed last week to block the transaction (see 2112030002). Other “contemplated” sanctions include a requirement to file “periodic compliance reports” with the commission. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9. The proposed transaction “would allow the combined firm to use its control of Arm to harm Nvidia’s rivals in ways that substantially lessen competition -- including innovation, price, and feature competition -- in multiple markets,” it said. Nvidia has defended the transaction as one that would benefit the industry and promote competition.

FuboTV completed its buy of Edisn.ai (see 2111100003), a computer vision platform company based in Bangalore, India, it said Wednesday. Edisn.ai technology can recognize and track key individuals and objects in live video feeds, such as athletes, actors, brand logos and products, and it will help fuboTV improve its interactive live TV streaming experience through better play-by-play identification and frame-accurate video-data synchronization, it said. It will also enable the virtual MVPD to expand its ad tech capabilities, such as better detection of ad breaks and targeted contextual advertising. Edisn.ai technology will create the potential for integrated e-commerce to allow viewers to buy what they see on screen, fubo said. Edisn.ai CEO Ashok Karanth will join fuboTV as general manager-fuboTV India, along with about 20 data scientists and engineers. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Verizon closed its Tracfone acquisition, the company said Tuesday. Verizon paid about $3.1 billion cash and 57.6 million shares, it said: If TracFone keeps achieving certain operating metrics, Verizon will pay up to $650 million more cash. “The addition of the TracFone brands firmly establishes Verizon as the provider of choice in the value segment,” said Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne. Conditions from the FCC’s Monday OK (see 2111220069) “can have real-life benefits for consumers -- if they’re vigorously followed and enforced,” said Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; Sheldon Whitehouse, R.I.; Dianne Feinstein, Calif.; Ron Wyden, Ore.; and Ed Markey, Mass. “This deal reflects the firm, important commitments public interest groups and we fought for to preserve Lifeline and budget services.” The completed deal lets Verizon be "aggressive in the prepaid sector without harming its postpaid branding," said GlobalData analyst Tammy Parker. It "should help reenergize the prepaid sector, amping up the competitive fervor" among national carriers' secondary brands including AT&T's Cricket Wireless and T-Mobile's Metro, she said. "On the negative side, despite consumer protections required by federal and state regulators, TracFone’s acquisition removes an independent service provider from the market."

ViacomCBS has closed on buying a majority stake in Disney's Spanish language content producer Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico, it said Tuesday. The deal was announced last month (see 2110280007).

Wanting to “surprise and delight” Netflix subscribers “by pushing the boundaries of visual effects” was the streaming platform’s rationale for its plans to acquire Scanline VFX, “one of the most creative and innovative VFX studios,” blogged Vice President-Studio Operations Amy Reinhard Monday. The transaction is expected to close in Q1. “Scanline is known for its complex, photorealistic effects and expertise in virtual production,” said Reinhard. Netflix will invest in Scanline’s “pipeline, infrastructure and workforce,” she said.

IRobot bought air purification company Aeris Cleantec to support future product diversity, said iRobot Thursday. The global residential air purifier market is expected to exceed $6.7 billion in 2027, it said. IRobot sees “exciting opportunities” to speed consumer adoption of Aeris air purifier technology “by leveraging its extensive marketing capabilities, global network of retail partners and distributors, and installed base of connected customers around the world,” it said. The Aeris buy “is an important step in iRobot's strategy to expand our total addressable market and diversify our product portfolio in ways that will provide consumers with new ways to keep their homes cleaner and healthier," said CEO Colin Angle.

China Telecom Americas told the FCC it has a “tentative arrangement” to sell its MVNO customer base to another company, and asked for an extra 30 days before it must discontinue its resold mobile services operations. The buyer's name was redacted from the filing, posted Wednesday in docket 20-109. A Nov. 2 order gave the company 60 days to end any domestic or international services that it provides pursuant to its Communications Act Section 214 authority.