The US government filed suit Monday to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner, setting up the biggest antitrust court clash in decades over the $85bn tie-up. AT&T said it plans to challenge the government’s lawsuit, arguing that it was seeking a “vertical” merger without competitive overlap which should be approved based on legal precedent. AT&T has also argued its merger would mirror a similar merger between cable giant Comcast and media-entertainment group NBCUniversal, which won approval with certain conditions. “This is a classic vertical merger, combining two companies that do not compete with each other,” he said. “It should pose no antitrust problem.”But Gene Kimmelman of the consumer group Public Knowledge welcomed the lawsuit, warning a merger would hurt consumers.

Source: Punch November 21, 2017 05:15 UTC