States Prepared to Pursue Live Nation Trial Even If DOJ Settles

Several state attorneys general, including from California and Connecticut, are prepared to press ahead with an antitrust trial seeking to break up Live Nation Entertainment Inc. even if the US Justice Department decides to settle the case.

“I think we have to explore settlement in good faith, and if it meets our very high standards of what is necessary, pursue it,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg News.

Bonta said that if the states get the outcome they seek through a strong settlement agreement, there wouldn’t be a need to go to trial. “But ...