Telecommunications company AT&T has agreed a deal to acquire media company Time Warner for $85.4bn (€78.5bn), but the deal is set to face intense scrutiny from the authorities.
Time Warner has a significant interest in sports broadcasting in the US, with rights to Major League Baseball, the NBA basketball league and the March Madness college sports basketball competition.
Time Warner also operates pay-television channels HBO and CNN, as well as production studio Warner Bros.
The deal is pending the approval of the authorities and the US Department of Justice and the FCC media regulator will both have a very close look at the deal. US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he would block the merger if he wins the November 8 election, saying that the transaction would concentrate too much power into a single company.
AT&T said that it expected to close the deal by the end of 2017.