Business Interests, State AGs, Antitrust Scholars Back AT&T in DOJ Challenge of TW Deal
State attorneys general, business interests and antitrust scholars and experts are supporting AT&T in DOJ's challenge of the AT&T/Time Warner deal. DOJ's approach to vertical mergers, if accepted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, would run…
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against longstanding antitrust principles, according to an amicus brief (in Pacer, docket 18-5214) filed Thursday with appellate court by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the U.S. Black Chambers and the Latino Coalition. They said the vague standard proposed by Justice and some of its amici supporters "would cloud the business community's ability to ascertain whether vertical mergers are lawful." And they said the appellate court should give clear guidance for other courts and businesses by affirming vertical combinations are lawful unless the government can at least show the deal would let the combined company deny rivals access to essential inputs or a substantial share of potential customers. That no state joined DOJ in challenging AT&T/TW is significant, and validated by the lower court decision letting the deal go through, the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin said in an amicus brief (in Pacer) Wednesday. That U.S. District Court decision "is entitled to substantial deference," the states said. They said states didn't back Justice because of "notable features" in AT&T/TW, including it generating millions of dollars of consumer benefits and AT&T's arbitration procedure being similar to the one Comcast agreed to in its NBCUniversal deal. In a separate brief (in Pacer), 37 economists, antitrust scholars and former government antitrust officials said vertical mergers inherently contain efficiencies and those were properly considered when the lower court evaluated effects of AT&T/TW. They also said the lower court gave proper weight to the DOJ's bargaining model, and the court's skepticism of it "was appropriate in light of the facts." They said the District Court ruling should stand since there's no proof it erred in finding the government hadn't shown the transaction was likely to hurt competition or consumers. Signatories to the antitrust scholar brief include George Mason University Law & Economics Center Director Henry Butler, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Economists Chairman Barry Harris, University of Chicago law and economics Professor Emeritus William Landes and University of Pennsylvania law professor Christopher Yoo. DOJ didn't comment Thursday.