On January 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued private equity giant KKR & Co. (KKR) for numerous violations of antitrust law, alleging that KKR repeatedly violated its obligations to provide information on its...more
1/17/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Private Equity ,
Threshold Requirements
On Friday, January 10th, 2025, the US Chamber of Commerce, American Investment Council, Business Roundtable, and Longview Chamber of Commerce (collectively the “Plaintiffs”) filed a joint lawsuit challenging the FTC’s and...more
In the second quarter, federal and state antitrust enforcers continued their intense scrutiny of consolidation in the healthcare market by implementing new initiatives and laws designed to gather additional information...more
9/20/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Algorithms ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Industry Consolidation ,
Market Participants ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Price Manipulation ,
Price-Fixing ,
Private Equity ,
Quality of Care Standards
To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
9/10/2024
/ AbbVie ,
Abuse of Dominance ,
Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Eli Lilly ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Orange Book ,
Patents ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular ,
Sanofi ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
Following a nine-week bench trial starting in September 2023 and closing arguments in May 2024, District of Columbia district court judge Amit Mehta ruled on August 5, 2024, that Google illegally maintained its monopoly in...more
8/15/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Amazon ,
Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Search Engines ,
Selective Distribution Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
Web Browsers ,
WhatsApp
The FTC’s enforcement efforts against private equity hit a significant roadblock on May 13 when a federal judge granted Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s (Welsh Carson) motion to dismiss the agency’s complaint against the...more
On April 23, 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) that would prohibit the use of non-compete clauses with most American workers...more
Antitrust actions significantly impacted the technology sector in 2023 and are poised to have substantial repercussions in the future, affecting both major tech companies and emerging enterprises. In addition to a focus on...more
2023 saw a significant uptick in antitrust scrutiny and enforcement, particularly in the healthcare space. After much rhetoric and a setback in challenging state Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) laws, the Federal Trade...more
3/12/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms
On March 5, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, and collectively with the FTC and DOJ, the Agencies) launched a cross-government inquiry...more
Despite increasingly aggressive rhetoric from the agencies, 2022 was largely characterized as “business as usual” in the antitrust world. In contrast, 2023 featured a significant step up in enforcement activity, including...more
2/23/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
Clinical Trials ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
IP License ,
Life Sciences ,
Monopolization ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sanofi
On September 26, 2023, the FTC and 17 state attorneys general filed a long-anticipated antitrust complaint against Amazon. The complaint alleges that Amazon wields monopoly power in what the plaintiffs define as the online...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released the final version of revised Merger Guidelines...more
The FTC announced yesterday that it would seek to block Sanofi’s proposed exclusive license agreement with Maze Therapeutics, having concluded that the transaction would “eliminate a nascent competitor poised to challenge...more
On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. The EO establishes sweeping directives and priorities for federal...more
11/1/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
NIST ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Semiconductors ,
Technology Sector
The FTC’s Amgen/Horizon Lawsuit Ends With a Whimper -
We covered the FTC’s investigation into (and litigation challenging) Amgen’s $28.3 billion acquisition of rare disease specialist Horizon Therapeutics in our Q1 and...more
10/24/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Clinical Trials ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Settlement
Backing up its recent rhetoric, the FTC has filed suit against a private equity firm based on a “roll-up scheme” in the healthcare space. The FTC filed its complaint in federal district court in Texas, alleging that Welsh,...more
On August 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an agreement with natural gas producer EQT Corporation (EQT) and private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners (Quantum) to resolve concerns stemming from alleged...more
8/28/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Consent Decrees ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Popular ,
Safe Harbors ,
Section 5 ,
Section 8 ,
Statutory Authority ,
The Clayton Act
Antitrust enforcers remained active across the globe, with the announcement by the FTC and DOJ of proposed guidelines that have an emphasis on tech mergers in the United States, and several investigations of major tech deals...more
8/25/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Adobe ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Broadcom ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Microsoft ,
Online Platforms ,
Popular ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Public Comment ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Vertical Mergers
Agencies drastically revise Merger Guidelines and HSR process while withdrawing long-established antitrust healthcare guidance -
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ,...more
8/14/2023
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Popular
The second quarter saw significant enforcement and dealmaking in the life sciences space. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its attempt to block Amgen/Horizon, the first such challenge to a life science transaction...more
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (each an Agency, and collectively, the Agencies) released a long-awaited draft version of revised Merger...more
7/21/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Premerger...more
The start of 2023 has been a busy one, with global antitrust agencies advancing investigations and challenging a number of technology acquisitions. Future antitrust enforcement could also be shaped by new digital market...more
6/15/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Adobe ,
Antitrust Division ,
Broadcom ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Microsoft ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Remedies ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Our prior updates covered how FTC enforcement activity largely proceeded “as usual” during 2022 in the life sciences industry, with large pharmaceutical players buying or licensing promising, but still risky, assets from...more
5/25/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Amgen ,
Corporate Practice of Medicine ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Popular