President Trump was sworn into office on Monday, promising swift action on several fronts. There is already a new Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chair, Andrew Ferguson, with former FTC Chair Lina Khan expected to step down...more
1/23/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Private Equity
What antitrust enforcement will look like during a second Trump administration is, like antitrust law, complicated. Notions that Republicans are pro-business and therefore will take a laissez-faire approach to antitrust...more
12/6/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cartels ,
Criminal Justice Reform ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Reviews ,
Presidential Elections ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration
The wait is over!
On October 10th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously approved the first significant revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger notification regime since its inception over 40...more
Leading up to the U.S. presidential election this November, our Antitrust & Competition team continues to offer insights into what antitrust enforcement may look like under the next presidential administration. In our last...more
Leading up to the U.S. presidential election this November, our Antitrust & Competition team continues to offer insights into what antitrust enforcement may look like under the next presidential administration. As we look...more
9/11/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Presidential Elections
Leading up to the U.S. presidential election this November, our Antitrust & Competition team will offer thoughts and insights into what antitrust enforcement will look like under the next presidential administration. While...more
9/4/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Kamala Harris ,
Presidential Elections ,
Private Equity ,
Trump Administration
On August 28th, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (the “Antitrust Agencies”), together with the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) and National Labor Relations...more
8/30/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
NLRB
On June 6, 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he led a multistate coalition of eleven (11) state attorneys general in in submitting a comment letter (the “Comment Letter”) in response to the Federal...more
The health care industry has been a particular focus of antitrust concern in recent years, including recent policy initiatives, private equity warnings, and enforcement actions from both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and...more
Parties involved in or considering health care transactions in California have been focused on navigating the new rules set by California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA), and newly proposed legislation could...more
4/19/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
California ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hedge Funds ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Rules ,
Prior Written Authorization ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Private Equity Funds ,
State Attorneys General
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice (the “Agencies”) jointly issued Final Merger Guidelines, following a public comment period on the Proposed Merger Guidelines first issued in July....more
12/21/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Vertical Mergers
On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) and U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP), in the Southern District of Texas, alleging the two companies “[e]xecuted a...more
9/27/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Texas
As generative AI becomes an increasingly integral part of the modern economy, antitrust and consumer protection agencies continue to raise concerns about the technology’s potential to promote unfair methods of competition....more
The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (together the “Agencies”) continue to carry out the Biden Administration’s stated mission to reinvigorate antitrust...more
On Friday, February 3, the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) announced its withdrawal of three policy statements on health care antitrust enforcement: (1) The Department of Justice and Federal Trade...more
It is widely reported that healthcare is a top antitrust enforcement priority in the U.S. The healthcare industry has undergone a transformation over the over the last twenty years and now comprises 17.7% of the U.S. gross...more
Representing a sizable portion of the American economy, few industries in the United States have received more attention from the press, legislators, and antitrust agencies than the healthcare industry—particularly in recent...more
On February 9, the Treasury Department issued a report analyzing competition in the US alcohol industry (defined as beer, wine, and spirits), which outlined several proposed reforms aimed at improving competition in the...more
3/1/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Beer ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
TTB ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wine & Alcohol
President Biden recently wrote a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan urging the Commission to immediately investigate potential anticompetitive behavior in the oil and gas sector. The President noted that gas prices have been...more
FTC announces that its merger enforcement orders will once again require prior approval before the subject firm can make a future acquisition affecting any relevant market for which a violation was alleged.
On October 25,...more
11/2/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Buyers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Threshold Requirements
Like other players in the healthcare industry, physician groups are facing increased antitrust scrutiny from the Biden administration, with the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and Department of Justice, Antitrust...more
6/15/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Clinically Integrated Networks (CINs) ,
Collaboration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Physicians ,
Private Equity
The Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) continues to investigate hiring practices in a number of industries for potential antitrust violations as part of its effort to scrutinize, and in some instances,...more
5/10/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
No-Poaching ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wage-Fixing
The U.S. healthcare system has been undergoing significant changes since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which helped precipitate a wave of hospital and healthcare system consolidation, as providers sought out...more