The U.S. Department of Justice issued a request for additional information on Friday for the proposed merger between concert promotion giants Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.

The action, commonly referred to as a second request, is part of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Act.

The two companies said in a statement that the request was expected and that they are working cooperatively with the Justice Department during the merger review.

The merger of Beverly Hills, Calif.'s Live Nation and West Hollywood, Calif.'s Ticketmaster was first announced on Feb. 10. The companies said today they still expect to close the deal before the end of the year.

The proposed merger has already been the subject of regulatory hearings in both houses of Congress as the merged ticketing company would have too much control over the live music industry.

The news comes a day after Ticketmaster reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.07 billion, or $18.82 a share, as the company took a goodwill charge of $1.1 billion reflective of the decline of its stock price.

Excluding the charge, the company would have earned $9.9 million, or 16 cents a share, below analyst estimates of 29 cents a share.

Revenues in the quarter came in at $384 million, up 9 percent from $351 million a year ago.

For 2008, the company lost $1 billion, or $17.84 a share, on $1.45 billion in revenue. In 2007, the company earned $169.4 million, or $3.01 a share, on $1.24 billion in revenue.

Charges also sunk Live Nation in the fourth quarter. The company reported losses of $337.5 million, or $4.33 a share, on March 3.

Ticketmaster shares closed down 12 cents, or 2.93 percent, to $3.97 while Live Nation shares lost 40 cents, or 13.7 percent, to $2.52.

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