Charter/Cox Shouldn't Face Regulatory Challenges: Mercatus Fellow
Charter Communications' proposed purchase of Cox Communications might have faced DOJ and FCC opposition under the Biden administration, with its reliance on market-share snapshots when pursuing antitrust claims, Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Alden Abbott wrote last week. But the $34.5…
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billion Charter/Cox deal, announced in May (see 2505160060), "should have a clear path forward" under current DOJ and FCC leadership, given signs that the Trump administration wants to reinstate "a commonsense, fact-based, and economically centered merger-review policy," said Abbott, a former FTC general counsel. Under the Supreme Court's Brown Shoe test for assessing if a transaction will lessen competition, Charter/Cox doesn't eliminate an existing rivalry, raise entry barriers or accelerate harmful concentration, he said. The two have minimal overlap, and there's booming growth of new broadband competitors, Abbott added.