A federal judge recently dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of Illumina Inc.'s acquisition of Grail Inc., a cancer-screening firm started and spun off years earlier by Illumina itself.
A victory for the...more
Within the past month, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the Division), in two separate matters, indicted a former owner of a health care staffing company for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices by...more
In the final weeks of 2020, opportunity knocked for Sazerac Company, Inc (Sazerac), Precept Brands LLC (Precept), and Vie-Del Company (Vie-Del) and each opened the door.
After a 20-month investigation that found E. & J....more
No matter how novel a scheme about “coordinating” with competitors to instill “discipline” in the market may seem, odds are that the antitrust enforcers have seen it before and eventually will prosecute it.
Take the recent...more
12/2/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Bid Rigging ,
Bids ,
Bumble Bee Foods ,
Competitive Bidding ,
Confessions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Leniency Programs ,
Price-Fixing ,
Whistleblowers
Last week, the Antitrust Division (Division) of the U.S. Department of Justice (Department or DOJ) issued a memorandum providing further guidance to Division attorneys and the public on the use of arbitration in civil...more
If you caught our last two client alerts–Hey Fintech, the Antitrust Division Is Watching You! and Hey Fintech: Watch What You Say, and Be Mindful of What Others Say on Your Behalf–then you know that the Antitrust Division has...more
What You Need To Know:
•No matter what industry you are in, what others say on your behalf can be ripe targets for antitrust enforcers.
•Consultants and bankers create “sales materials” with the same mindset as real...more
What You Need To Know:
•The Antitrust Division is training its sights on fintech deals in which incumbents buy up “nascent competitors.”
•If you’re on the buy-side considering a “nascent competitor” transaction, early...more
The Federal Trade Commission, by a 3-2 vote along party lines, has proposed for public comment two major changes to its Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger notification rules. These changes would exempt from HSR filing some...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reminded us that the “failing firm defense” is much harder to pull off than might be imagined, and that the antitrust agencies will closely analyze all “failing company” claims even...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition issued a reminder yesterday, April 6, that it “must continue to analyze carefully the potential effects of proposed transactions and business conduct” and that it “will...more
On March 24, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the Antitrust Division) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the Agencies) issued a joint statement detailing a new expedited process for review...more
4/2/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Collaboration ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Competition Network (ECN) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
State of Emergency
Our realities have been upended by COVID-19, creating a new world that is likely to continue for a long time. This “new normal” is already stress testing businesses of all types. When we face this kind of external threat, our...more
COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of American life right now, and there are myriad legal issues companies are facing from the pandemic’s fallout. These include antitrust considerations, ranging from potentially...more
3/25/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Filing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Government Lockdown ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
State of Emergency
The new coronavirus is a heat-seeking missile headed straight for our health care system. The virus threatens to infect a segment of our population so large that an influx of patients will overwhelm the relatively few open...more