CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : U.S. Opposes Merger of Concert Facilities

The U.S. Justice Department said it will file a civil antitrust suit this week opposing a proposed alliance between Orange County’s two outdoor pop concert facilities, charging that a merger would reduce competition, not enhance it as parties to the deal have argued. Operators of the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa plan to join with a major food concessions firm in buying a controlling interest in the venue’s longtime rival in the concert market, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. “It appears that the proposed transaction would create a monopoly in concert venues in Orange County,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. James F. Rill. “We found no circumstances that would justify this result, which we believe would adversely affect consumers.” Officials at the Nederlander Organization, which owns and operates the Pacific, maintained that in gaining ownership interest in Irvine, they would provide equal access at both facilities to booking agents, which would increase, rather than decrease, competition.