Join us as Darren Tucker and Jason Powers discuss recent antitrust developments in the energy sector and what lies ahead for companies in 2025. Key topics include the incoming Trump administration’s approach to antitrust...more
1/24/2025
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Chemicals ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Events ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Price-Fixing ,
Trump Administration
The Trump Administration’s antitrust enforcement priorities are beginning to take shape. On January 20, 2025, President Trump designated former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Andrew Ferguson as the agency’s next...more
1/23/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Speech ,
Mergers ,
Natural Resources ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
The re-election of former President Donald J. Trump is poised to significantly alter the landscape of antitrust enforcement, particularly within the energy and chemical industries. While the incoming administration has yet to...more
1/16/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bid Rigging ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emergency Response ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Natural Disasters ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Renewable Energy ,
Statutory Authority ,
Trump Administration
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has revised the thresholds that govern pre-merger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”), and Section 8 of the...more
1/14/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Directors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Section 8 ,
The Clayton Act
The incoming Trump administration suggests a potential return to more traditional levels of antitrust enforcement for energy industry mergers and a departure from novel theories of harm seen under current Federal Trade...more
1/8/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Technologies ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
The Clayton Act ,
Trump Administration
On December 11, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) jointly issued a statement withdrawing their Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors. The...more
On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s concurrence, released a Final Rule containing long-anticipated revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act...more
10/17/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Board of Directors ,
Buyers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
NAICS ,
Popular ,
Target Company
On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s concurrence, released a Final Rule containing the long-anticipated revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has revised the thresholds that govern pre-merger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”), and Section 8 of the...more
1/25/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
For companies in the energy and chemical sectors, the potential for antitrust scrutiny is an ever-present concern. The next round of enforcement inquiries is never further away than the next jump in commodity prices or the...more
1/15/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Energy Commissions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Oversight Committee ,
Private Equity
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice (the “Agencies”) jointly released new Merger Guidelines (the “Guidelines”), setting forth the analytical framework the Agencies will use to...more
On September 14, 2023, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri introduced the Strengthening Antitrust Enforcement for Meatpacking Act of 2023, an ambitious new piece of legislation designed to halt consolidation in the meatpacking...more
The Luxembourg Competition Authority (“LCA”) announced that it is launching a market study into the “blockchain sector,” particularly the relationship between Web21 companies and Web32 projects. In its press release, the LCA...more
On September 15, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) sued to block ASSA ABLOY AB’s (“ASSA ABLOY”) proposed $4.3 billion acquisition of the Hardware and Home Improvement division of Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc....more
In a pair of unanimous decisions, the Federal Trade Commission this week issued consent orders resolving challenges to two acquisitions. Both enforcement actions focus on top priorities of the Biden antitrust enforcers...more
On May 11, 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alvaro Bedoya to an open seat on the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Bedoya’s confirmation re-establishes a 3-2 Democratic majority, ending a period of split partisan control in...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently signaled a possible shift in its antitrust merger review and remedies practice, moving away from a willingness to allow transactions to proceed through a divesture process....more
Antitrust activity increased significantly in 2021. This past year brought numerous changes in merger and non-merger enforcement policies and priorities that signal increased scrutiny in industry transactions. The “Biden...more
1/19/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
AMG Capital Management LLC v FTC ,
Antitrust Division ,
Big Tech ,
Chemicals ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Joe Biden ,
Market Manipulation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Pipelines ,
Price Inflation ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Transparency ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Warning Letters
On December 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had filed an administrative complaint (the “Complaint”) to block Nvidia Corp.’s (“Nvidia”) $40 billion acquisition of U.K. chip design provider Arm...more
On October 6, 2021, Jonathan Kanter, President Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (the “Division”) testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation...more
On July 20, 2021, President Biden nominated Jonathan Kanter, founder of the Kanter Law Group, to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Mr. Kanter is well known in...more
The energy and chemicals industries play a central role in our economy and regularly capture the attention of antitrust authorities and practitioners. In this program, V&E lawyers will discuss recent antitrust developments in...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revised the thresholds that govern pre-merger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act), as well as the thresholds...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements