US appeals judge's order allowing AT&T to buy Time Warner.

The US Justice Department has appealed a judge's order allowing the AT&T mega-merger with media-entertainment giant Time Warner to proceed

The US Justice Department on Thursday appealed last month's ruling from a federal judge allowing AT&T to buy Time Warner in a mega-deal that could reshape the media-entertainment landscape.

A notice of appeal was filed with a federal appeals court one month after Judge Richard Leon rejected the government's efforts to block the $85 billion deal following a weeks-long antitrust trial.

Leon ruled the government had failed to meet its burden of proof that the tie-up between the largest US pay-TV operator and the media-entertainment giant would harm competition.

The decision delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump's administration in its first major antitrust court case.

The two companies completed the merger in the days following the ruling, so if the government prevails, the appeals court could order the deal undone or require AT&T to sell off parts of Time Warner.

Full story at Phys Org