China doubled its merger notification thresholds effective on January 26, 2024.
China's State Council recently published new merger control notification thresholds doubling the previous China revenue thresholds in an...more
As expected, the final guidelines expand the types of transactions that may receive heightened scrutiny or result in a merger challenge....more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) have proposed to expand dramatically the scope and burden of preparing a merger filing in the United States. The proposed changes...more
7/26/2023
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
NPRM ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released a new Policy Statement of its enforcement priorities for Section 5 of the FTC Act, which makes unlawful “unfair methods of competition.” Since the passage of the FTC Act in 1914,...more
Recent actions by the Saudi Arabia competition authority confirm that the agency is adopting a more aggressive enforcement approach, particularly involving consumer-facing companies.
The Saudi Arabian General Authority...more
The DOJ Antitrust Division recently announced new requirements for DOJ's Leniency Program, which allows the first individual or company to self-report its involvement in an antitrust conspiracy to avoid prosecution and lessen...more
Background -
Recent supply disruptions in the semiconductor industry have highlighted the dependence of many global economies, including the EU, on imported chips manufactured in Asia....more
3/8/2022
/ Business Disruption ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Domestic Industry Requirement ,
Economic Development ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Global Economy ,
Imports ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Innovative Technology ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Microchip Technology ,
Public Funds ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Supply Shortages
The Background: In the Supreme Court's landmark 2013 decision in FTC v. Actavis, the Court determined that large payments by branded drugmakers to potential generic entrants to settle patent disputes could be anticompetitive....more
Merging parties in all HSR reportable transactions must observe the full 30-day waiting period before closing a deal.
On February 4, 2021, the U.S. antitrust agencies announced that they are temporarily suspending the...more
The U.S. Department of Justice's ("DOJ") new remedies guide reinforces its strong preferences for structural divestitures and upfront buyers to resolve merger investigations.
Last week, the DOJ released a new "Merger...more
9/15/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Private Equity ,
Vertical Mergers
The Development: The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and a divided Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") released the final version of their Vertical Merger Guidelines, the first revision in more than 35 years. The Guidelines...more
7/15/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Defense Strategies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diagonal Mergers ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
The Situation: The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ") has provided details on the unprecedented use of arbitration to resolve its challenge to the proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation by...more
The Situation:The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") has sued to block a proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation by Novelis Inc. In an unprecedented move, the parties and DOJ agreed to refer the "dispositive" issue of...more
9/12/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Section 7 ,
The Clayton Act
Partner Ryan Thomas discusses antitrust concerns regarding blockchains, including competition considerations, per se and tacit collusion, and exclusionary conduct among members of a blockchain.
...more
The Federal Trade Commission, by a 3-2 party-line vote, has settled a vertical merger challenge in exchange for the merging companies' behavioral commitments. The decision and Commissioner statements signal tension for FTC...more
The Trump Administration leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have announced reforms regarding merger reviews. This Jones Day White Paper reviews these reforms and their strategic...more
1/15/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Privilege Logs ,
Trump Administration
Blockchain technology, particularly private blockchains, can provide a technological curtain behind which business transactions occur. Still, any anticompetitive practices that stem from private blockchains are subject to...more
8/3/2018
/ Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Blockchain ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Monopolization ,
OECD ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sherman Act ,
Trading Platforms ,
Transparency
After eighteen months of investigation and litigation, a federal district court has rejected the Justice Department's challenge to AT&T's $108 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Although the government could appeal, the...more
The Situation: The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently published a blog post reminding merging parties to avoid creating antitrust liability through the exchange of competitively sensitive information during merger...more
4/27/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contractual Safeguards ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Sherman Act
The Federal Trade Commission staff have completed a new study evaluating its process for designing and implementing merger remedies and the success of the remedies it has imposed in the past. Its report—"The FTC's Merger...more