Justice’s Vertical Merger Agenda Likely Undeterred by AT&T Case

The Justice Department’s unsuccessful bid to kill AT&T Inc.'s acquisition of Time Warner Inc. doesn’t mean antitrust regulators will shy away from scrutiny of similar deals, antitrust attorneys say.

The facts of AT&T’s $85 billion “vertical” deal — in which a company buys a supplier — are so unique that they won’t dramatically alter DOJ policy on when to review other mergers, attorneys said. The DOJ, under its current antitrust chief Makan Delrahim, also won’t hesitate to order asset sales to approve vertical mergers that might pose competition concerns, they said.

The DOJ’s steadfast course in vertical deal ...