Divestitures Would 'Destroy' Value of AT&T/TW, Companies Say
Approving AT&T's buy of Time Warner by requiring divestiture of Turner or DirecTV, as proposed by DOJ (see 1804300020), "would destroy the very consumer value this merger is designed to unlock," AT&T/TW said in a docket 17-2511 trial brief (in…
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Pacer) Thursday. Thursday was the deadline for the sides to file findings of fact and law. Justice filed a series of sealed documents. AT&T/TW said taking DirecTV out of the deal would eliminate the price decreases predicted for DirecTV subscribers. and divesting Turner would eliminate the content innovations and advertising benefits that will put downward pressure on Turner's prices. The companies said the record doesn't support imposing any remedies. Arguing DOJ hadn't met its burden of proof, the companies said "the government’s theories disintegrated upon first contact with real-world events, testimony, and data" in large part because it's difficult to prove any vertical merger is a harm to competition. They said given the increased competition from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Netflix, combining with AT&T will give TW a route to what those entities have -- direct customer relationships and customer data. The companies said they "have not abandoned" a selective enforcement defense, and said trial evidence pointed to different government treatment of comparable vertical mergers. They said "it was impractical" without discovery to press the issue at trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington earlier rejected an AT&T request for White House-DOJ communications about AT&T/TW (see 1802200040).