Sabre-Farelogix Ruling Made Moot by Scrapped Deal (Corrected)

A potentially groundbreaking court decision greenlighting the planned merger of travel booking platforms Sabre Corp. and Farelogix Inc. was set aside Monday by the Third Circuit, which held that the ruling became moot when the deal was scrapped after U.K. regulators came out the other way.

Because the appellate order expresses “no opinion on the merits,” it “should not be construed as detracting from the persuasive force of the district court’s decision, should courts and litigants find its reasoning persuasive,” a three-judge panel wrote.

The one-page ruling rewarded the Justice Department’s persistent efforts to undo a Delaware federal judge’s ...