IN THIS FEBRUARY 2024 ISSUE -
UNITED STATES -
New Merger Guidelines Released -
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) issued their updated Merger Guidelines on...more
2/14/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
Vertical Mergers
UNITED STATES -
Proposed Merger Guidelines Outline Fundamental Change of Approach to Merger Investigation and Enforcement -
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ)...more
10/27/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Investigations ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
APRIL – JUNE 2023: KEY THEMES AND TAKEAWAYS -
UNITED STATES -
• Federal Trade Commission Unveils Proposal Detailing Significant Changes to Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Merger Notifications On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade...more
7/31/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Premerger Notifications
UNITED STATES -
Wilson Resigns as FTC Commissioner -
On February 14, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) lone Republican commissioner, Christine Wilson, announced that she was resigning. Wilson explained her decision...more
4/21/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Healthcare ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Settlement Agreements ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
As the United States’ primary public health and consumer protection agency, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates at least one quarter of the nation’s economy and exerts significant influence over global...more
2/6/2023
/ Biologics ,
Clinical Laboratory Testing ,
Clinical Trials ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
Medical Devices ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safety Inspections ,
Supply Chain
DOJ Sees First Merger Win After String of Losses -
Penguin Random House’s planned acquisition of rival Simon & Schuster was blocked by Judge Florence Pan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on November...more
1/20/2023
/ Activision ,
Appeals ,
BEIS ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestment ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Microsoft ,
New Guidance ,
Semiconductors ,
UK
Litigation Losses Pile Up for DOJ and FTC -
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lost four merger challenges (Illumina/GRAIL, UnitedHealth/Change Healthcare, U.S. Sugar/Imperial Sugar and...more
OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2021:
HIGHLIGHTS UNITED STATES -
• Both antitrust agencies have now filled senior leadership positions, although the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) awaits the appointment of a fifth commissioner....more
The Biden administration has placed an emphasis on antitrust enforcement that will create meaningful implications for future transactions, as well as those already consummated. In this webinar, hosted by McDermott Will &...more
10/14/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Vertical Mergers
As part of our Energy Transition webinar series, McDermott partner Kevin Brophy will moderate a discussion on October 13 between partner Lesli Esposito and associate Matt Evola on new merger control developments made under...more
10/8/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Webinars
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently extracted a $3.5 million civil penalty from two companies involved in a gas station merger. The FTC asserts the companies violated their settlement agreement with the government,...more
Two recent US antitrust class action settlements drew additional scrutiny from federal judges, showing that the allocation of settlement funds between a proposed class and their attorneys will be carefully reviewed for...more
For the first time since the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) published non-horizontal merger guidelines in 1984, the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued updated Vertical Merger Guidelines to explain...more
1/15/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Information Sharing ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Public Comment ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
Three recent antitrust merger reviews involving nascent competition demonstrate enforcers are paying close attention to acquisitions by industry leaders of emerging, but early-stage competitors. The US antitrust agencies have...more
United States: July - September 2019 Update -
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) continue an active docket challenging M&A transactions. DOJ is resolving antitrust reviews significantly...more
Family-owned wholesalers brought a Robinson-Patman claim against the maker of 5-hour Energy alleging discounts given to Costco amounted to illegal price discrimination. A jury in California rejected the claim after a...more
WHAT HAPPENED:
• The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in three related cases in the Eastern District of Washington yesterday dealing with alleged “no-poach” (or non-solicitation) agreements between...more
The US Federal Trade Commission recently announced increased thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and for determining whether parties trigger the prohibition against interlocking directors...more
2/19/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Consistent with Assistant Attorney General Delrahim’s speech on September 25, 2018, the DOJ released a new Model Timing Agreement which sets out that it will require fewer custodians, take fewer depositions, and commit to a...more
In testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Chairman Joseph Simons from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staked out...more
WHAT HAPPENED -
.. The FTC posted a short article indicating that after finalizing a settlement package with FTC Staff, it takes approximately four weeks for the Directors of the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of...more
In February 2018, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found a lack of appellate jurisdiction and transferred a Walker Process claim to the Fifth Circuit (IP Update, Vol. 21, No. 2). Now,...more
United States: January – March 2018 Update -
One year into the Trump administration, the US antitrust agencies are finally starting to implement their enforcement policies. Most notably, trial began in the US Department of...more