US Appeals Court Rejects Justice Department Antitrust Challenge to AT&T-Time Warner Deal
February 26, 2019
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the Justice Department’s bid to roll back AT&T’s 2018 acquisition of entertainment company Time Warner, a second defeat for government antitrust enforcers who sought to sink the $80 billion-plus deal. A three-judge panel of the appeals court affirmed a trial judge’s ruling in June that found the deal was unlikely to harm competition. Justice Department lawyers have argued that the combination of the two companies would reduce competition and hurt consumers.
US Appeals Court Rejects Justice Department Antitrust Challenge to AT&T-Time Warner Deal U.S. Loses Appeal Seeking to Block AT&T-Time Warner Merger (NYTimes) The AT&T-TimeWarner deal has been blessed by the courts — again (Vox) Justice Department loses appeal to block AT&T-Time Warner merger (USA Today) Appeals court rejects government bid to reverse AT&T/Time Warner deal (ars technica) Justice Department loses appeal looking to reverse the AT&T–Time Warner merger (Vox) Federal appeals court upholds AT&T’s Time Warner merger, handing defeat to Justice Department (Washington Post) US Courts Just Greenlit AT&T’s Anti-Competitive Ambition for Decades to Come (Vice)