AT&T defeats feds in merger fight to buy Time Warner
A U.S. appeals court approved wireless carrier AT&T's deal to buy media company Time Warner on Tuesday, a defeat for the U.S. Justice Department, which had argued the $85.4 billion merger would mean higher prices for consumers.
The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled unanimously in favor of the deal, setting the stage for the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier to integrate its WarnerMedia business as well as its new Xandr advertising unit.
"The government’s objections that the district court misunderstood and misapplied economic principles and clearly erred in rejecting the quantitative model are unpersuasive," the judges said in their opinion.
The Justice Department had asked the court to declare the deal illegal, arguing that AT&T, which owns DirecTV, would use ownership of Time Warner’s content, such as CNN and HBO's "Game of Thrones," to make pay-TV rivals pay more, thus raising prices for consumers.
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