By Nathaniel Luce
Publication: REUTERS
Some competition experts, several of whom are former government officials, say the proposed combination of concert promoter Live Nation and ticket vendor Ticketmaster has a fair shot at success, though they were not certain if it finally could win approval.
“The DOJ will want to know if anybody else will be able to reach the minimum efficiency and sufficient scale necessary to compete with the new Live Nation,” said Professor LUKE FROEB of Vanderbilt University, a former senior economist for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice.
“This is a small merger with small potential overlap, I think they’ll get a fair hearing,” said Froeb, who gave testimony at a congressional hearing last month in Washington D.C. on Live Nation’s $225 million bid for Ticketmaster
