A D.C. federal appeals judge has rejected the Department of Justice’s most recent effort to shut down AT&T’s $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. (TVNewser)
Tuesday, the court rejected the DOJ’s appeal of the government’s antitrust suit against the AT&T-Time Warner deal. (Adweek)
On Tuesday, the appellate court ruled that the government had failed to prove the transaction—valued between $85 and $105 billion and that would give the nation’s largest telecom control over CNN, TBS and TNT—amounted to enhanced leverage that would harm the marketplace. (THR / THR, Esq.)
In a 3-0 decision, the appellate judges found the government’s claim, that the lower court “misunderstood and misapplied” economic principles, “unconvincing.” The government is not planning a further appeal. (Variety)
The regulatory agency first mounted the rare challenge in a blockbuster lawsuit in late 2017 and persisted on appeal after U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon allowed the merger to close in a resoundingly pro-AT&T ruling last June. (Deadline)