“Merger review is about to get thornier. While the FTC and DOJ have been tightening the merger review process incrementally over the course of the Biden administration, the newly proposed HSR rule changes represent a...more
On the heels of the historic proposed changes to the Hart‑Scott‑Rodino (“HSR”) merger review process, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission released the 2023 Draft Merger...more
On June 29, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would dramatically expand HSR reporting requirements. The historic changes fundamentally alter the HSR reporting landscape,...more
7/12/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Mergers ,
Non-Controlling Interests ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
White Papers
On June 15, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition issued a statement on the relationship between voluntary interviews with the agency and contractual provisions that require or limit the disclosure of...more
As this year’s roundtable of enforcers demonstrated, big business is probably antitrust enforcers’ greatest fear. Spring in Washington means Cherry blossoms and antitrust. And last week, 3,700 antitrust lawyers and government...more
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was originally thought of as "force for securing decency on the Internet," as the late Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit explained in a...more
The Supreme Court heard oral argument last week in cases that will have extensive implications for online platforms, and, more broadly, for internet speech across the board. Gonzalez v. Google, in particular, may result in a...more
The DOJ continued its transformation of long-standing antitrust policy on February 3rd, withdrawing a slate of long-standing antitrust policy statements addressing healthcare markets and providers. The three guidance...more
Over the past year, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has increasingly been hot on the heels of suspected anti-competitive labor violations. To date, the DOJ has brought a few actions against employers across industries...more
Megamergers that deprive the American consumer of competition are illegal. But the urge to merge is often so strong that antitrust risks rarely prevent behemoths from the attempt. Long before parties sign deals, issue press...more
10/12/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Breach of Contract ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hell or High Water Clauses ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Risk Allocation
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic's ravage on industries, markets, and entire economies, businesses are seeking help from the government, whether in the form of a bailout or some regulatory accommodation. Industries...more
As businesses across the globe grapple with the changing realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. and international antitrust enforcers have warned that business should continue to mind the antitrust laws. Global...more
On April 3, 2018, the Antitrust Division of the U.S Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had reached a settlement in a matter involving a “no-poaching” agreement between employers—the first such enforcement action...more
Primary HSR filing threshold will be raised to $84.4 million -
The Federal Trade Commission has announced revisions to HSR Act and Clayton Act Section 8 thresholds, which are indexed annually to account for inflation. As...more
1/30/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Reporting Requirements ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Efficiencies, economies of scale, and the general desire to improve the customer experience are the lifeblood of all mergers. And one of the most common efficiencies in any deal comes from enhanced purchasing power, or the...more
In a move that may not have stood up under the new administration, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division settled a matter during the last days of the Obama Administration which involved allegations of...more
2/15/2017
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Duke Energy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FERC ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Tolling Agreement ,
Waiting Periods
Primary HSR filing threshold will be raised to $80.8 million -
The Federal Trade Commission has announced revisions to HSR Act and Clayton Act Section 8 thresholds, which are indexed annually to account for inflation. As...more
The Federal Trade Commission's Premerger Notification Office has expanded the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) reporting requirements for certain leveraged buyouts. M&A practitioners generally are familiar with the HSR premerger...more
10/25/2016
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Merger Agreements ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Transaction Test
Antitrust practitioners, enforcers and industry professionals came together in Washington, D.C. for the 64th installment of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law's annual Spring Meeting. The Spring Meeting provides a look at the...more
4/20/2016
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Baker Hughes ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Forex ,
FTC v Actavis ,
FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System ,
Halliburton ,
Libor ,
Mergers ,
NC Board of Dental Examiners v FTC ,
REMS ,
SCOTUS ,
The Clayton Act ,
Yates Memorandum
Enforcement actions for violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) often are announced with substantial money penalties or other restrictions agreed in advance between the agency and the parties. Not so with the Department...more
4/14/2016
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Halliburton ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Injunctions ,
Investment Management ,
Investment-Only Exemption ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Yahoo!
This year's 63rd ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting featured extensive remarks from antitrust regulators forewarning of more vigorous antitrust enforcement in 2015. The Proskauer antitrust team was on the ground and...more
DOJ recently concluded that a standard-setting organization's proposal to update its policy regarding patents underlying its standards was pro-competitive. DOJ's analysis of the association's process and legal structure...more
On November 7, 2014, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced that it had imposed a civil penalty of $3.8M and disgorgement of $1.15M in profits on Flakeboard America Limited (and its parent...more
11/19/2014
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Flakeboard America ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
SierraPine ,
Waiting Periods