FTC NOT READY TO OK
AOL-TW MERGER

Federal Trade Commission officials battled with America Online and Time Warner over settlement terms in advance of a planned meeting on their merger Thursday (11/9), making it likely that a vote on the deal could be delayed.

As negotiators struggled to finish a settlement, other FTC officials continued to prepare to go to court to block the $124 billion merger if those efforts fail, people close to the case told The Wall Street Journal.

The commission is expected to consider the merger in a closed session this afternoon (11/9). If members decide to continue negotiations, a vote on the deal could be postponed to give the two sides more time to complete a settlement.

The two sides had already agreed to commit TW to open its high-speed cable lines to Internet competitors before AOL offers service over those same lines, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday (11/8). Now, however, some commissioners are demanding that AOL and TW go further, signing a contract with at least one of these Internet competitors even before closing the merger, and they want the right to approve the contract before letting the merger proceed, the people said. This is meant to insure that a market price for wholesale high-speed cable access is set in tough negotiations between competitors, not simply dictated by AOL, Wall Street Journal experts said.

It isn't clear whether this new demand is enough to derail a deal, though the two sides continued to work out Wednesday how and when the provision would be imposed.