Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division have now brought cases challenging deals under President Trump’s administration. In many respects, the theories of harm alleged in...more
As Holland & Knight observed previously, the Biden Administration's antitrust enforcers have trained their sights on private equity firms and their portfolio companies, including in a Sept. 21, 2023, lawsuit challenging one...more
On February 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alongside Attorneys General from eight states and the District of Columbia, initiated legal action to block Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons. The...more
Our M&A team is honored to have represented clients in some of the most compelling transactions in 2023—from advising SoftBank on two acquisitions of public companies in the robotics space, to partnering with sustainable food...more
On January 25, 2024 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block Novant Health (Novant) from acquiring two North Carolina hospitals, Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Davis Regional Medical Center from Community...more
In the coming year, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chair Lina Khan and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Jonathan Kanter are expected to continue to advance a more aggressive...more
On December 18, 2023, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (Agencies) issued the 2023 Merger Guidelines, which replace the Agencies’ 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger...more
As a capstone on the Biden administration’s aggressive 2023 antitrust enforcement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued revised Merger Guidelines before the holidays, replacing the...more
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department jointly issued the 2023 Merger Guidelines on December 18, 2023, which describe the factors and frameworks the agencies will utilize when reviewing mergers and...more
What You Need to Know- •The final 2023 Merger Guidelines are structured around 11 guidelines outlining the Agencies’ approach to merger enforcement. •Together with the massive changes to the HSR form proposed in June...more
On December 18, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the final version of new merger review guidelines (Merger Guidelines), five months after the agencies published a draft for...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) jointly released their long-anticipated final 2023 Merger Guidelines after a notice and public comment period, during which they...more
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
The year in antitrust began apace on January 5 with the release of the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule banning all employer-employee noncompete agreements. At mid-year, the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the...more
Amidst a wave of challenges to mergers on novel theories of harm, proposals to revamp both the HSR Filing rules and the Merger Guidelines used for assessing the competitive impact of mergers, and taking steps to enlarge the...more
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has focused on the potential harm that loyalty discounts and bundled prices could cause to competitors and their access to customers. A vendor offers a bundled discount when it...more
In July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a draft of proposed new merger guidelines, 18 months after FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General...more
Agencies drastically revise Merger Guidelines and HSR process while withdrawing long-established antitrust healthcare guidance - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly issued new draft Merger Guidelines on July 19. The draft Merger Guidelines were created with the goal "to better reflect how the agencies...more
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced sweeping changes to how they review deals. The agencies published new “Merger Guidelines” that identify the competition...more
On July 14, 2023, signaling a continuing shift in its position on antitrust issues, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) followed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and withdrew the Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy...more
Proposed FTC and DOJ Merger Guidelines Formalize Biden Administration’s Aggressive Vision for Merger Enforcement – Top Ten Takeaways - When losing, some players seek to change the rules. Others seek to change the playing...more
As Bradley forecasted in February, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced the withdrawal of two healthcare antitrust policy statements: Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care (1996) and...more
Summary - ..The FTC and DOJ suffered twin setbacks in the healthcare space. In both UnitedHealth/Change and Illumina/Grail, the agencies’ reliance on more novel theories of harm failed to convince skeptical judges. ...more
Key Points - U.S. antitrust regulators at the DOJ and FTC embarked on a joint review of merger enforcement by soliciting public input on modernizing federal merger guidelines. While public comments ran the gamut from...more