Google will pay HTC $1.1 billion for an unspecified number of its employees and for a non-exclusive license to use HTC patents under a “cooperation agreement” the companies announced jointly Thursday. Many of the HTC employees were already working with Google to develop Pixel smartphones, they said. Google will continue to have access to HTC's intellectual property to support future Pixel smartphone development, they said. The agreement expected to close in early 2018 “represents a significant investment by Google in Taiwan as a key innovation and technology hub,” they said. It gives Google a "platform to showcase how technology on the Android platform should be implemented," wrote David McQueen, research director at ABI Research. It also becomes a "reference for Google’s OEM partners on how to implement technology innovation coming from Google Labs and to fully utilize the most recent releases of the Android OS," he said. He cautioned that Google "has been down this path before" with Nexus-branded products. "Although no one could argue about the superior capabilities of the Nexus devices, they have not been the most attractive in terms of industrial design," he said.

U.S. tower companies will lose 4-9 percent of their market capitalization if Sprint and T-Mobile combine (see 1709190048), New Street Research wrote investors Tuesday evening. Among the major players, Crown Castle faces the biggest “downside,” the firm said. “We have maintained for months that a Sprint/T-Mobile merger was the most likely transaction, with the most likely structure leaving [Deutsche Telekom] in control,” said analyst Jonathan Chaplin of New Street in a Wednesday note. “We upgraded Sprint to Buy back in January when this outcome started to come into focus.”

The FTC cleared the way for Disney to raise its stake in BAMTech to 75 percent, said an early termination notice ending the transaction’s Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. A year after spending $1 billion to acquire 33 percent of BAMTech as the springboard to launching ESPN- and Disney-branded subscription streaming services, Disney announced Aug. 8 it will pay $1.58 billion more to buy an additional 42 percent of the streaming-technology company (see 1708080065).

T-Mobile and Sprint are again in talks on combining in an all-stock deal, with their shares closing up 5.9 percent and 6.8 percent respectively Tuesday. CNBC reported no announcement is likely for weeks. The structure reportedly is complicated, but would put T-Mobile CEO John Legere in charge with Masayoshi Son, CEO of Sprint parent SoftBank, having a say in decisions. A T-Mobile/Sprint is seen as having a good chance of approval by the Trump DOJ and FCC (see 1612090053). In 2014, under pressure from then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Sprint dropped its pursuit of T-Mobile (see 1408070044). The companies didn’t comment. “This is a different kind of [DOJ] Antitrust Division,” analyst Jim Cramer said on CNBC Tuesday. “I think this goes through.” Weeks ago, "we put 50/50 odds on approval,” Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, emailed. “That seems like a reasonable starting point. There are good arguments for why it should be approved. But there are also good arguments for why it shouldn’t.” New Street analyst Kirk Boodry said on Bloomberg Tuesday a Sprint/T-Mobile is probably “much more likely” than a deal between Sprint and Charter. “What you get with T-Mobile is a lot of synergies,” he said. In a presentation last week at a Goldman Sachs financial conference, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said he was “heavily, heavily advised” by lawyers not to comment on potential deals. “We are always evaluating options,” Claure said. “We think, ‘Which is the one that's going to generate the highest shareholder return or create more shareholder value.’” Sprint operations and financials improved in the past three years, Claure said. “That has allowed us to have several different options.” Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said if talks are underway again, it explains why the usually “outspoken” Claure was so reticent in his comments. “The equity market seemed to be to be pricing a scenario where Softbank would have to put in equity to close a deal,” she said in a note to investors. “We do not see this as a logical outcome.”

The Telecommunications Industry Association said it agreed to combine with QuEST Forum, an information communication and technology association, and more alliances are possible. The combined tech group will focus on IoT and related areas, such as smart cities, network virtualization and the transition to the cloud, TIA and the forum announced Tuesday. Forum CEO Fraser Pajak will be an officer of the new organization and will report directly to TIA CEO Wes Johnston, with the groups' boards combined into one, said a Q&A. A spokesman told us and online materials say no job cuts are now planned. With six staffers from the forum, TIA will have about 45 total employees, he said. Johnston was named head of TIA earlier this year (see the personals section of the June 6 issue of this publication), after an interim CEO followed Scott Belcher leaving after about two years (see 1702010030). More alliances are possible, online materials said Tuesday: "Current strategic alliances are being evaluated, and new ones being formed" and "we will continue to explore opportunities to expand value for our community through new partnerships and alliances, or when appropriate, through mergers and acquisitions." The combination is "reflecting" the consolidation that "naturally happened in the industry" and within the membership, said telecom industry consultant Grant Seiffert, head of TIA 2007 through 2014, in an interview. "In the past, TIA has merged with other organizations to provide synergies and like-minded services." Overlapping members (here and here) include big ISPs like AT&T and Verizon, and device maker/suppliers like Cisco and Nokia. The merger, subject to ratification of a definitive agreement, is expected to close in Q4, the groups said. The forum's focus includes ways for companies to be environmentally friendly and some standards.

Any AT&T divestiture of its DTV Latin America assets could be challenging, New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors Monday. He said reports AT&T may be trying to sell Sky Brasil are likely tied to getting Brazilian regulatory OK for AT&T/Time Warner. Chaplin said while Telefonica Brasil is a likely buyer, it perhaps won't pay the reported $5 billion asking price. Chaplin said that while Telefonica, Millicom and John Malone-affiliated Lilac might want some of the other assets, such deals "will be more challenging" for regulatory and balance sheet reasons. He said AT&T would likely want to keep its 41 percent stake in Sky Mexico as it looks to sell its Sky Brasil and Panamericana direct broadcast satellite assets. AT&T in a statement said it expects buying TW to close before year's end and it's discussing "appropriate conditions" with Brazilian regulators and expects "to resolve any concerns with remedies similar to those we have agreed to in other jurisdictions. And we continue" to work with DOJ.

Digital Realty completed a takeover worth about $7.8 billion of data center owner DuPont Fabros, as expected (see 1706090025), the buyer announced Thursday. The acquirer is adding two of the acquiree's directors to its board (see personals section in this issue).

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., filed two bills aimed at strengthening U.S. antitrust laws, her office said Thursday. Klobuchar has been a leading critic of recent media deals, including the proposed AT&T/Time Warner (see 1701250076 and 1705260055). The Merger Enforcement Improvement Act would update antitrust laws to reflect the current U.S. economy and give federal agencies access to better post-merger information to ensure merging companies are meeting federal requirements. Nine other Senate Democrats are co-sponsoring the bill, including Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and four of Klobuchar’s fellow Senate Commerce Committee members. The Consolidation Prevention and Competition Promotion Act would clarify existing antitrust statutes to say “mergers that increase consumer prices, lower the quality of goods, exclude competitors, undermine innovation, or allow a company to unfairly lower the prices it pays can be illegal.” The legislation would add the term “monopsony” to the Clayton Antitrust Act to make single buyers’ control of the market illegal and would create an Office of the Competition Advocate to voice consumer-side concerns about merger activity.

"Government planning" didn't "create" the smartphone, and government doesn't "create or drive competition," but "provides a framework" for it to "thrive," acting FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen said in prepared remarks to a Fordham Competition Law Institute event Friday. On "the role of a government antitrust agency, I agree with the description of our role as an umpire. ... We should make sure that the sides are not agreeing to shave points, prevent better players from playing, colluding, or combining teams to undermine the nature of the contest." She cited the FTC's challenging this year of the combination of top-two daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel, "where market dynamics suggested a substantial risk to competition." With "competition-driven innovation" resulting in smartphones, which displaced cellphones that had displaced landlines, something "will one day displace the smartphone," Ohlhausen predicted.

Sinclair buying Tribune would put local weather anchors “at risk," said deal opposition group Coalition to Save Local Media (see 1708150063), with members like the American Cable Association, Competitive Carriers Association, Dish Network, ITTA, NTCA and Public Knowledge. Sinclair has a “record of eliminating veteran weather anchors, reporters, and resources used by newsrooms to report live and on the ground during weather events,” the group said Thursday. Local weather reporters are “especially threatened” in markets where Sinclair will acquire new big-four stations, including Seattle, Denver, Cleveland and Sacramento, it said. “To suggest that Sinclair would ever put the well-being of our viewers at risk by cutting local weather coverage is absurd," said Senior Vice President-News Scott Livingston. "Broadcasting provides critical information during crises and we remain committed to providing this essential information to our local communities." Sinclair stations "devoted countless hours to round the clock coverage by local meteorologists," during the recent hurricanes, he said. Sinclair's WPEC West Palm Beach, Florida, offered continuous coverage for four days during Hurricane Irma, Livingston said.