The judge who will decide if AT&T will be allowed to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner indicated on Monday that he could be considering a decision that wasn't a clear approval or blocking of the $85 billion deal.
In his closing remarks, U.S. Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath asked for the planned transaction to be stopped. "Consumers will be worse off and that's why this merger ought to be blocked," he said. In the absence of blocking it, Conrath urged the judge to consider a divestiture, or asset sale.
Judge Richard Leon asked about the possibility of imposing a remedy, like saying the deal could go forward if the companies sell a particular asset. Conrath said that if the judge found the deal to be anti-competitive then he could impose a fix or a remedy.