AT&T-Time Warner merger again gets approval in court
The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday tossed out the Justice Department’s appeal of the AT&T-Time Warner merger.
A three-judge panel ruled the two companies could maintain its merger, saying the government’s argument that an earlier court ruling erred was “unpersuasive.”
Last year, the Department of Justice lost its attempt to block the deal when a federal judge in June approved the $85 million merger.
After a six-week trial, Judge Richard Leon ruled the government had not adequately made the case that competition would be hurt by the merger.
Leon discouraged the department from continuing its attempt to divert the deal. “I do not believe that the government has a likelihood of success on the merits of an appeal,” he said in his ruling.
But the Department of Justice appealed the result to the U.S. Court of Appeals in July, after AT&T had already incorporated Time Warner into a new entity within AT&T called WarnerMedia, which includes HBO, the Warner Bros. studios, and Turner networks such as CNN and TBS.
In a statement Tuesday to USA TODAY, AT&T general counsel David McAtee said, “We trust that today’s unanimous decision from the D.C. Circuit will end this litigation.”
The Department of Justice could ask for the full court of appeals to consider the case or seek an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
When the department sued in November 2017 to prevent the merger, the agency argued a combined AT&T and Time Warner would give one company too much marketplace power, reduce competition and raise consumer bills.
Looming over the case has been President Donald Trump’s disdain for CNN. As a candidate, Trump said the deal would concentrate too much power in the company. And while he has been in the Oval Office, Trump has regularly labeled CNN as “fake news.”