US: Holder had authorized the antitrust lawsuit against the Comcast merger

The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Eric Holder had authorized antitrust officials to file a lawsuit against the merger, though those officials didn’t make a final decision before Friday.

Comcast has terminated its $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable, the company said in a statement Friday.

“Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away,” Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said in a prepared statement.

News of the merger’s fate follows reports that Federal Communications Commission staffers recommended the agency issue a “hearing designation order” on the merger, one that would force the two cable companies to make the public interest case for their union before an administrative law judge. Experts say such hearings are not only exceedingly rare, but costly and time-consuming to the businesses involved. Typically, they’re a good indication that FCC staffers aren’t convinced the merger is in the public interest.

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.