The Justice Department will examine the projected merger of ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. with Live Nation Inc. in order to establish whether the resulted company would bring to light an inequitable domination in the ticket-selling industry.

 

Federal antitrust lawyers are dedicated to “vigorous enforcement of the merger antitrust laws” and will carry out a systematic “investigation of the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation transaction,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona, as quoted by The Associated Press.

 

The agreement would unite the globe’s leading ticket seller, Ticketmaster, and Live Nation, which used to be its major client and is currently the world’s largest concert promoter. An investigation conducted by the Justice Department could take several months or longer and some lawmakers are already trying to persuade the government to disapprove of the deal.

 

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., want the deal to be rejected by the government as a result of the problems that emerged after Ticketmaster offered tickets to Bruce Springsteen gigs.

 

The musician himself intervened and went up against the merger. The Boss explained in a post on his Web site that a union between the two giant companies would be “the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now,” because the action would have as a consequence a “near-monopoly situation in music ticketing.”

 

Live Nation is in possession of more than 140 venues and has multiyear wide-ranging rights agreements that include the tours of Madonna, U2, Jay-Z, Shakira and Nickelback.