AT&T emerges victorious in its bid to buy Time Warner after appeals court upholds lower court verdict.
AT&T scores. Can it move on? Photocredit: Getty Getty
AT&T wins another round, and hopes it’s the last.
A U. S. appeals court on Tuesday backed a lower court ruling that giant AT&T’s $81-billion acquisition of Time Warner is legal under antitrust law, a decision that allows the combined company to pursue its strategy of diversifying revenue and transforming itself into a media powerhouse at a critical time for both the communications and entertainment industries.
A three-judge panel from the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled unanimously in favor of the deal. They had heard oral arguments from both sides in December.
“The judgment of the district court appealed from this cause is hereby affirmed,” the judges wrote, rejecting the claim by the U. S. Justice Department that the lower court should not have approved the combination, which was announced in 2016 and closed last July.
“The merger of these innovative companies has already yielded significant consumer benefits, and it will continue to do so for years to come. While we respect the important role that the U. S. Department of Justice plays in the merger review process, we trust that today’s unanimous decision from the D. C. Circuit will end this litigation,” AT&T General Counsel David McAtee said in a statement.
The DOJ could still decide to ask the full appeals court to review the decision or appeal it to the Supreme Court.
U. S. District Court Judge Richard Leon last year ruled to let the merger move forward, rebuffing the government’s argument that the combination would give AT&T too much power over television content and could harm consumers by raising the prices of Time Warner fare for other distributors.
