Deals
AT&T May Have an Edge in the Court Battle for Time Warner
- U.S. has suffered setbacks at trial over merger, observers say
- Trump’s top antitrust official says ‘We’re not going to lose’
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AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. may have gained an edge in the biggest merger trial in decades as the companies have exposed weaknesses in the Trump administration’s antitrust lawsuit to block their $85 billion merger, according to lawyers and economists following the battle.
As the U.S. rested its case Tuesday in the fifth week of the trial, AT&T and Time Warner have poked holes in the Justice Department’s claim that the deal would give them the power to raise prices on cable and satellite-TV competitors, and disadvantage competitors by coordinating with Comcast Corp., a major rival that went through a similar merger when it bought NBCUniversal.