A federal judge ruled Tuesday that AT&T is allowed to acquire Time Warner.
Judge Richard J. Leon, a U.S. District Court judge, made the ruling. There are no conditions to the $84.5 billion merger, and he told the federal government it would be “manifestly unjust” for it to seek a stay on his own ruling pending an appeal.
The Justice Department sued to block the deal in November, arguing that it would limit competition and raise costs.
President Trump had also publicly opposed the deal.
In a 172-page ruling, Leon said he analyzed “each of the Government’s three theories of harm to competition, balancing, as appropriate, the conceded proconsumer benefits of the merger with the consumer harms alleged and the evidence offered to support them.”
“Ultimately, i conclude that the Government has failed to meet its burden to establish that the proposed ‘transaction is likely to lessen competition substantially,'” he wrote.
The takeover was first announced in October 2016.
[Related: AT&T’s victory in Time Warner merger clears way for deal bonanza]
Makan Delrahim, the antitrust chief of the Justice Department, said he was “disappointed” with the court’s decision.
“We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. We will closely review the Court’s opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of American consumers,” he said in a statement.
The merger will drastically reshape the media business and is expected to pave the way for a Comcast bid on 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets.
Time Warner’s Turner networks include CNN, TBS, TNT and HBO. AT&T’s acquisition makes it the nation’s top pay-TV distributor, since it also owns DirectTV.
AT&T is also the No. 2 wireless carrier in the U.S.
The company said it was pleaded with the ruling.
“We are pleased that, after conducting a full and fair trial on the merits, the Court has categorically rejected the government’s lawsuit to block our merger with Time Warner. We thank the Court for its thorough and timely examination of the evidence and we compliment our colleagues at the Department of Justice on their dedicated representation of the government,” said David McAfee, general counsel. “We look forward to closing the merger on or before June 20 so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable, mobile, and innovative.”
AT&T Opinion by Washington Examiner on Scribd
