The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upholds the District Court decision finding a merger in the video distribution sector unlikely to harm competition (AT&T / Time Warner)

“[T]here is no need to opine on the proper legal standards for evaluating vertical mergers because, on appeal, neither party challenges the legal standards the district court applied.” —U.S. Circuit Judge Judith W. Rogers, United States v. AT&T Inc. Antitrust practitioners and business people hoping to obtain guidance on the legal principles for a challenge to a vertical transaction likely were disappointed to read these words early in Judge Rogers’ decision in United States v. AT&T Inc. [1] In upholding the district court’s decision that AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner was unlikely to harm competition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit did not adopt any broad principles on vertical merger enforcement that will make it more or less difficult for the