AT&T Inc. Gets Approval from U.S. Appeals Court for Time Warner Acquisition

A U.S. appeals court approved AT&T’s deal to buy Time Warner this week, making it the second big victory in court for the wireless carrier against the Justice Department.

The deal between AT&T and Time Warner has been heavily scrutinized and opposed by President Trump.

The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled unanimously in favor of the deal this week and this could now put an end to a 15-month effort by the Justice Department to block the deal.

According to the judges, the government’s case was “unpersuasive.”

The Justice Department has said that AT&T, which owns DirecTV, would use ownership of Time Warner’s content to make pay-TV rivals pay more. This would in turn increase prices for consumers.

AT&T said it hoped that the ruling this week would end the court fight.

“Undoubtedly the district court made some problematic statements, which the government identifies and this court cannot ignore,” the panel said in its opinion.

Disclaimer: We have no position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and have not been compensated for this article.