Live Nation Judge Orders Settlement Talks With States (2)

A New York federal judge ordered a group of states to engage in settlement talks with Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to potentially resolve claims the company illegally monopolized the live event industry.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian declined to rule on a request by 27 states and Washington, DC, for a mistrial of the case after the Justice Department reached its own settlement directly with the company. Instead, he ordered the states to negotiate a potential resolution with Live Nation. If no settlement is reached, a jury trial in the case may continue next week, he said.

“It’s unclear to me why you would need anything more than the right people, here, in court,” Subramanian said. He ordered Live Nation Chief Executive Officer Michael Rapino to remain in New York for the negotiations this week.

The Justice Department announced Monday that it had reached a settlement with Live Nation to resolve the antitrust suit without the need for a sale of its Ticketmaster subsidiary — the main relief originally sought in the case. Subramanian must still review that settlement to ensure it is in the public interest before it is final.

Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation would open up concert venues it owns to rival ticketing services for at least a portion of the tickets for each show. The company also agreed to allow rival concert promoters to put on shows at its venues, and cap fees at 15%.

A group of states, including Texas, California and New York, indicated Monday they had concerns about the Justice Department’s settlement and would continue with the litigation, but asked the court for a mistrial given the Justice Department’s departure from the case midstream.

The states said they have hired Jeffrey Kessler and the law firm Winston & Strawn to represent them in the case. Kessler successfully sued the National Collegiate Athletics Association for antitrust violations over its rules barring student athletes from accepting compensation in a case that reached all the way to the US Supreme Court.

During the court hearing Tuesday, Subramanian chastised everyone involved, saying the Justice Department’s lack of transparency about its settlement negotiations was “mind boggling.” Subramanian said that the Justice Department didn’t inform the court about negotiations until Friday – four days into the trial – and didn’t provide a copy of the agreement it had made with Live Nation until Monday morning, even though the document was signed Thursday.

“The parties’ conduct here strains the bounds of acceptable conduct,” Subramanian said.

Omeed Assefi, the acting assistant attorney general for antitrust, said the Justice Department didn’t provide a copy of the so-called term sheet because it was “edited over the weekend” to include some modifications.

Attorneys representing the states in the case requested 60 days to prepare to continue the trial. Subramanian rejected this request, saying he believed if both sides truly wanted to settle, a deal could be made within the week.

“I’ve done this for 45 years, there is zero chance we get this done by Friday,” said Dan Wall, an in-house attorney for Live Nation.

“Not with that attitude,” the judge responded.

Subramanian questioned Assefi about the terms of the settlement, confirming that a lot of the details still needed to be ironed out and that the government has not agreed to drop future cases against Live Nation.

“A year from now, two years from now, if the government thinks it has a viable case, it could bring that case,” Subramanian confirmed with attorneys.

(Updates with states hiring Jeffrey Kessler.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net;
Mikella Schuettler in New York at mschuettler4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth

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