The Justice Department has a team of litigators prepared to oppose the merger of ticketing giant Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation and could decide to take the deal to court, antitrust sources said on Wednesday.

The DOJ has had a litigation team preparing the case for litigation for months, one antitrust source said, adding that TheDeal.com publication was inaccurate in reporting that the Justice Department was prepared to approve the deal.

From the best we can tell, no decision has been made, said a second antitrust source. We have the impression that efforts to settle have fallen through.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

California