Justice Dept. Looking Into Cap Cities, Disney Deal

Walt Disney Co. and Capital Cities/ABC Inc. said Wednesday that the Justice Department has requested additional information about their proposed $19-billion merger.

In a joint statement, the two companies, which hope to create one of the largest entertainment firms in the world, said they are cooperating with the request, which Disney described as a routine development.

“We’re not at all surprised they would ask for more information,” Disney spokesman John Dreyer said.

“We don’t think this is anything out of the ordinary. When you consider the dollar size of the merger, it’s something they are appropriately doing for the kind of due diligence the Justice Department does on mergers.”

Dreyer declined to specify what kind of the information the Justice Department was requesting.

A spokesman for the Justice Department was not available to comment on the request.

One area that could cause concern in Washington is Disney’s ownership in Los Angeles of the KCAL-TV station and how it would conflict with ABC’s KABC-TV station.

However, analysts said the possible antitrust issues raised by the two television stations would be more of an issue for the Federal Communications Commission than the Justice Department.