In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important and interesting SEC enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary...more
PE-backed Inspire Brands is in negotiations to take over Dunkin’ Brands Group, the parent of both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins, in a deal valued at nearly $9 billion. Inspire includes Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s among...more
Yesterday’s jobless numbers were down a bit from a week earlier but still topped 800,000 for the 4th week in a row. “Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000 and are higher than in any previous recession for...more
On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) released a Merger Remedies Manual, updating its 2004 Policy Guide to Merger Remedies. (DOJ’s 2011 Policy Guide to Merger Remedies was withdrawn by DOJ...more
May saw a huge jump in consumer activity to the tune of +17.7%, as Americans unleashed their pent-up demand. It was welcome news for markets and beyond, but “the underlying data presents a more complicated picture and shows...more
“Big data” has become one of the hottest subjects for antitrust enforcers around the globe. There is concern that large tech companies are amassing vast amounts of data and will use that data to entrench their dominant...more
In his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump frequently expressed populist themes, rhetorically criticizing “big business” and “special interests,” and signaled an activist antitrust agenda with his comment in October 2016...more
The Federal Reserve took the rare step yesterday of stepping “into financial markets . . . to keep interest rates from rising above its target, the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of ‘market...more
Read the latest news on antitrust, competition and economic regulation (ACER) in this Spring's edition of our quarterly ACER newsletter. ...more
The DOJ Antitrust Division’s high profile, unsuccessful attempt to block the AT&T/Time Warner merger ended on February 26, 2019 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision to allow...more
On February 26, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Court of Appeals) issued an important antitrust decision, which will influence how vertical mergers are reviewed in the U.S., and perhaps in other...more
On February 26, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously affirmed a district court decision rejecting the U.S. Department of Justice’s challenge to AT&T’s $85 billion merger with Time Warner, cementing...more
Skadden’s Antitrust and Competition Group and the economics firm Charles River Associates recently co-hosted the ninth annual “Antitrust in the Technology Sector: Policy Perspectives and Insights From the Enforcers” seminar...more
On 26 February 2019 AT&T won its appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when the district court's decision denying the government's attempt to block AT&T from acquiring Time Warner Inc. was...more
February 27, 2019 On February 26, 2019, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s denial of a Department of Justice (DOJ) bid to permanently...more
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals dealt the DOJ a blow yesterday with a ruling that “rejected the government’s claim that a lower court had applied antitrust laws incorrectly in allowing the merger” between AT&T and Time Warner...more
Antitrust enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Europe were once again busy in 2018, particularly in the area of merger review. In the U.S., despite new leadership at both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade...more
Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has captured headlines for its aggressive public stance regarding merger enforcement. Actions attracting attention...more
Under the Trump administration, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (and, to some extent, the Federal Trade Commission) has emphasized its role as an antitrust “enforcer” and not a “regulator.”...more
Fast Facts - The numbers of significant antitrust merger investigations in the U.S. and the EU both are on pace to match 2017 levels. - Bayer/Monsanto was resolved after a more than 24-month investigation in the U.S., the...more
The District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the request by the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) to enjoin the merger of AT&T’s television distribution business with Time Warner’s video content...more
While federal officials have stated their intent to persist in questioning vertical relationships that they hypothesize cause downstream economic effects on product flow and prices, a recent loss by the Department of Justice...more
Following a six-week trial, federal Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently approved AT&T’s 85-billion-dollar acquisition of Time Warner Inc. AT&T Inc. (along with its subsidiary,...more
On June 12, 2018, after a six-week trial, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon denied the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to block AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc., one of the most high-profile...more
The challenges that the government faces in litigating vertical mergers was illustrated in the DOJ’s recent loss in its challenge of AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner. The result provides guidance for how companies...more