FEDS WILL APPEAL MERGER DECISION
Ruling allowed AT&T’s $81B Time Warner deal
WASHINGTON — Stung by a federal judge’s dismissal of its objections to AT&T’s megamerger with Time Warner, the Trump Justice Department is challenging the decision with a legal appeal.
The Justice Department said in a one-sentence document today it is appealing the ruling last month by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, which blessed one of the biggest media deals ever following a landmark antitrust trial.
Leon rejected the government’s argument that the phone and payTV giant’s $81 billion takeover of the entertainment conglomerate would hurt competition, limit choices and jack up prices for consumers to stream TV and movies.
Leon’s ruling allowed Dallasbased AT&T to absorb the owner of CNN, HBO, the Warner Bros. movie studio, “Game of Thrones,” coveted sports programming and other “must-see” shows.
The Justice Department’s appeal is lodged with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a step up from the federal district court where the six-week trial unfolded in the spring.
The merger was swiftly consummated, just two days after Leon’s June 12 ruling and almost as soon as the Justice Department signaled it wouldn’t seek to temporarily block the merger while it pondered an appeal. The deadline for closing the merger was June 21.
Some legal experts believe the government could have a hard time convincing the appeals court to overturn Leon’s ruling. Opposing the merger forced the federal antitrust regulators to argue against standing legal doctrine that favors mergers among companies that don’t compete directly with each other.
It was the first time in decades the government had challenged that doctrine by suing to block a merger.
AT&T said it’s ready to defend Leon’s ruling against the government’s appeal.
“The court’s decision could hardly have been more thorough, fact-based and well-reasoned,” the company’s general counsel, David McAtee, said in a statement. “While the losing party in litigation always has the right to appeal if it wishes, we are surprised that the (Justice Department) has chosen to do so under these circumstances. We are ready to defend the court’s decision.”
From the bench, Leon had urged the government not to ask for a halt to the deal, saying it would bring “a manifestly unjust outcome.”
Just a day after Leon ruled, Comcast launched a $65 billion cash bid for the bulk of 21st Century Fox — topping Disney’s all-stock $52.5 billion offer in December.
Waiting in the wings are potential big-billions deals involving Verizon and CBS and T-Mobile and Sprint.