WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The federal government alleges that a proposed merger between two independent local television station owners would cause harm to competition.
United States of America filed a complaint on Dec. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Gray Television Inc. and Raycom Media Inc. alleging violation of section 7 of the Clayton Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that, pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger dated June 23, Gray aims to acquire Raycom through a merger transaction for approximately $3.6 billion in cash and stock.
"The proposed merger would combine two of the largest independent local television station owners in the United States and would combine many popular local television stations that compete against each other today in several markets, likely resulting in significant harm to competition," the complaint states.
The plaintiff seeks the court adjudge the proposed merger to violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 18; the court enjoin and restrain defendants from carrying out the merger; costs of this action; and other relief to the court may deem just and proper. It is represented by Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Andrew C. Finch and others of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia case number 1:18-cv-02951-CRC