• by Wayne Friedman , June 12, 2018

In the wake of court approval of the AT&T-Time Warner $85 billion deal, Time Warner and 21st Century stocks -- as well as other potential media companies targeted for acquisitions -- shot up in after-market trading.

The approval of the deal -- with no restrictions from U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon -- witnessed the biggest stock gains going to Time Warner and Fox, which rocketed up as much as 5% and 6%, respectively. Both companies are a party to previously announced media deals.

At the same time, companies pursuing potential acquisitions -- AT&T, Comcast Corp. and Walt Disney -- witnessed lower results, slipping 1% to 2%. The AT&T-Time Warner deal is now scheduled to close on June 20.

Walt Disney has a preliminary deal to buy slightly more than half of Fox’s movie and TV businesses for $52.4 billion. Comcast Corp. has been rumored to be making a hostile bid -- worth more than $60 billion -- for the same Fox entities.

Other potential media targets, such as Viacom and AMC Networks, also witnessed their respective stocks going higher, at 3.2% and 1%, respectively.

Separately, Discovery Inc. grew nearly 4%, while CBS stock was up 3%. Lions Gate Entertainment topped many other media companies, with a 10% gain in its stock price in after-market trading.

Analysis believe the court decision will mean a big wave of future traditional media and acquisition deals.