On August 20, 2024, a federal district court in Texas issued a permanent injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s “Non-Compete Rule,” which would have prohibited nearly all non-compete clauses with workers.
The...more
On July 23, 2024, a federal district court in Philadelphia refused to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation or enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s April 2024 Final Rule banning worker non-compete...more
In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) announced a Final Rule that would prohibit nearly all existing and future non-compete agreements between employers and workers, subject to specified...more
7/9/2024
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Texas
After more than a year of considering tens of thousands of public comments, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has voted 3-to-2 to adopt a Final Rule (the “Rule”) that would effectively ban almost all employee non-compete...more
4/25/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
The Merger Guidelines lower the market concentration threshold for the presumption that a merger is illegal.
Deals that place combined market shares above 30 percent with a significant increase in concentration are...more
Dechert’s antitrust group submitted comments today to U.S. antitrust agencies on their proposed top-to-bottom overhaul of premerger antitrust filings made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The Federal Trade Commission...more
On July 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) issued their long-awaited draft Merger Guidelines. The draft Merger Guidelines, once finalized, will...more
The Boiling Points collection features real-world documents that government antitrust agencies used against merging companies. Dechert’s antitrust/competition practice curated the collection from an exhaustive review of...more
8/16/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asset Deals ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Document Management ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Regulatory Standards
The government had lost seven consecutive hospital merger litigations before the FTC’s challenge to the Evanston Northwestern/Highland Park merger in 2003. That losing streak forced the FTC to reassess the economic tests used...more
DAMITT has observed an across-the-board increase in the average duration of significant EU Merger investigations: Phase I remedy cases resolved in Q1 2021 averaged 10.5 months; while Phase II investigations averaged 17.3...more
The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP’s Antitrust/Competition practice reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States...more
2/5/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Monopolization ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
UK Brexit
The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
10/29/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Joe Biden ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States
....The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
7/25/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Phase II ,
Popular ,
Vertical Mergers
The final Vertical Merger Guidelines issued on June 30, 2020 provide guidance to the business and legal communities on how the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) currently analyze the...more
7/14/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diagonal Mergers ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Guidelines ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Mergers of Complements ,
New Guidance ,
Safe Harbors ,
Vertical Mergers
Fast Facts -
United States
- The COVID-19 pandemic has yet to slow U.S. merger enforcement, with deal reviews for Q1 2020 averaging 11.1 months in length, slightly below the 11.9 month average for CY 2019.
- The...more
Fast Facts -
United States -
- The DOJ and FTC concluded 26 significant U.S. merger investigations in 2019 – similar to the level of activity from 2011-2014 under the Obama administration but trailing the activity...more
2/1/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Remedies ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Phase II ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States
Fast Facts -
United States -
- The Trump administration’s efforts to block mergers near record, with 5 significant investigations resulting in complaints in 2019 YTD.
- The number of significant antitrust merger...more
11/8/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Trump Administration
Fast Facts -
United States -
U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies concluded 20 “significant investigations” during the rolling-twelve months (RTM) ended Q2 2019, down from 28 for the RTM ended Q2 2018....more
7/31/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Remedies ,
Technology Sector
Fast Facts -
United States
- The number of significant U.S. antitrust merger investigations declined almost 40% during the 12 months ending in Q1 2019 compared to the prior rolling 12 months (RTM).
- The average...more
Fast Facts
- In the U.S., the number of significant antitrust merger investigations in 2018 reached a near-record low over DAMITT’s eight years of data, while their average duration remained near the record high.
- In...more
1/30/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Obama Administration ,
Phase II ,
Remedies ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Vertical Mergers
Citing findings from the Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) that have demonstrated a marked increase in the duration of significant merger investigations in recent years, DOJ Assistant Attorney...more
10/13/2018
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Remedies
Fast Facts
- The numbers of significant antitrust merger investigations in the U.S. and the EU both are on pace to match 2017 levels.
- Bayer/Monsanto was resolved after a more than 24-month investigation in the U.S., the...more
7/20/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
AT&T ,
Bayer ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Monsanto
Fast Facts
- There are signs that the six-year trend toward longer significant investigations may be slowing or reversing.
- Significant U.S. merger investigations lasted an average of 9.7 months in Q1 2018, the second...more
4/13/2018
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
AT&T ,
Bayer ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Monsanto ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration
Fast Facts -
The length of significant U.S. merger investigations climbed to an average of 10.8 months in 2017, a new DAMITT record, despite the number of investigations dropping by more than 20%.
There are signs of a...more
Fast Facts:
- The number of significant merger investigations was down 25% on both a YTD and RTM basis
- Only one significant investigation resulted in a complaint in 2017 YTD (two on an RTM basis), down about 80%
-...more