The trial to determine if the U.S. Department of Justice can stop AT&T Inc’s $85 billion purchase of media company Time Warner Inc will begin on March 19 with no decision expected before the companies’ April 22 deadline to complete the deal, a federal judge said on Thursday.
Time Warner and AT&T, which is the No. 2 U.S. wireless company and also owns DirecTV, announced their deal in October 2016, but it was not until last month that the Justice Department sued AT&T to block the deal, arguing it could raise prices for rivals and pay-TV subscribers and hamper the development of online video.
According to Reuters, Judge Richard Leon said during a hearing on Thursday he would likely not have a decision by the deadline in the companies’ merger agreement, but would rule in late April or May. The trial date is almost midway between the Feb. 20 date AT&T had requested and the U.S. government’s preferred date of May 7.
AT&T would have to pay Time Warner $500 million if the deal does not close by April 22. It is not unusual, however, for companies to extend the deadlines included in merger agreements.
The next pre-trial hearing was set for Dec. 21.
The fate of the deal has been widely followed because U.S. President Donald Trump criticized it on the campaign trail last year and has repeatedly attacked the reporting of Time Warner’s CNN news network.
Trump renewed his opposition to the deal last month.
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