TWC-Comcast Merger Might See a DOJ Lawsuit

Man-O-Live!

Time Warner stock is taking a hit right now, and it's all because of a recent Bloomberg report that the Department of Justice is leaning towards an anti-trust lawsuit against the Time Warner-Comcast merger.  Per David McLaughlin at Bloomberg:

Staff attorneys at the Justice Department’s antitrust division are nearing a recommendation to block Comcast Corp.’s bid to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to create a nationwide cable giant are leaning against the merger out of concerns that consumers would be harmed and could submit their review as soon as next week, said the people.

The antitrust lawyers will present their findings to Renata Hesse, a deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, who will decide, along with the division’s top officials, whether to file a federal lawsuit to block the deal, they said.

The Justice Department lawyers have been contacting outside parties in the last few weeks to shore up evidence to support a potential case against the merger, one of the people said.

Furthermore, officials at the antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission, which is also reviewing the deal, aren’t negotiating with Comcast about conditions to the merger that would resolve concerns, such as selling parts of its business or changing practices, said two people familiar with the situation.

If the DOJ officially comes out against the merger and/or if the merger doesn't go through then I think it's fair to say that it could be a very, very, very long time until SportsNet LA will reach the other 70% of LA homes.  After all, it's been widely reported that this pending merger was the main barrier to having the channel on everyone's television, and if it ceases to happen then all kind of wheels start to fall off.  Heck, the speculation that a SportsNet LA bankruptcy filing is imminent becomes much more real.

Hat Tip: Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

UPDATE:  I should add that there is one very interesting point in the Bloomberg article.  It states that the DOJ is NOT currently negotiating with Comcast to address their concerns.  Basically, it's all or nothing for them and that's bad news for Comcast.

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