The judge that is overseeing the legal case brought by the US Department of Justice against AT&T’s US$39bn acquisition of T-Mobile USA has reportedly called on both sides to discuss the prospects for a settlement. According to a report by the New York…
The judge that is overseeing the legal case brought by the US Department of Justice against AT&T’s US$39bn acquisition of T-Mobile USA has reportedly called on both sides to discuss the prospects for a settlement.
According to a report by the New York Times yesterday, Judge Ellen Huvelle signed an order on Monday that asked AT&T, Deutsche Telekom (which owns T-Mobile USA) and the DoJ to file a joint plan for scheduling and managing the case.
The judge also reportedly ordered that the companies be ready to discuss the prospects for a settlement at a conference on 21 September.
A Deutsche Telekom spokesman confirmed to TelecomFinance that AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and the DoJ had been called to file the joint plan.
“Together with AT&T we shall seek an expedited hearing and defend the merger against the lawsuit filed by the DoJ. We will also be pursuing a negotiated solution, consistent with what the DoJ said publicly,” he said.
Melissa Maxman, an antitrust attorney at Cozen O’Connor in Washington, said that it was not uncommon for a federal judge in the federal district court in Washington to say that the parties explain to the court whether they have discussed a possible settlement.
She said that assuming the hearing is held in public, the parties would reveal the general “substantive issues” where they had not been able to make an agreement.
This news emerged the day after Sprint Nextel announced that it had filed a lawsuit against AT&T, AT&T Mobility, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA in order to block the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.
Maxman said that Sprint’s case would be a slightly different legal challenge than the Justice Department’s to the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, as Sprint would be protecting its own interests while the DoJ’s case is grounded in general antitrust concerns.
She added that if Judge Huvelle dismisses any of the government’s case (without dismissing Sprint’s), then Sprint would be able to continue its legal challenge against the deal.
