In the process of green-lighting a vertical merger with a firewall remedy, the current Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) exposed a significant partisan divergence in the commissioners’ approach to vertical...more
On January 28, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a consent order allowing, with firewall conditions, the vertical merger between Staples and office-supply distributor Essendant. In order to resolve the...more
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have continued their aggressive stance against proposed mergers that the antitrust agencies perceive as harmful to competition. So far this year, the FTC obtained a...more
A federal court in Washington, D.C. issued an order blocking Staples' acquisition of Office Depot on the grounds that it would substantially lessen competition in the sale of consumable office supplies to national business...more
After more than a year-long battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the proposed acquisition of Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) by Staples, Inc. (SPLS) was blocked by the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District...more
On May 17, 2016, one week after announcing his decision, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released a public version of his opinion siding with the Federal Trade Commission in its...more
On May 10, Staples and Office Depot announced that they would be terminating their $6.3 billion merger in the wake of a federal judge’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the deal. This represents the second...more
On May 10, 2016, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released his highly anticipated decision in the matter of Staples’ acquisition of Office Depot, granting the Federal Trade...more
FTC Files No-AG Suit Against Pharmaceutical Companies - On March 30, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaintin the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against several drug...more
Yesterday, Staples closed its defense in the case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the Staples-Office Depot merger—without calling any witnesses. (We covered the first week of the trial here.) Judge...more
On Monday, Staples and the Federal Trade Commission began presenting arguments in the D.C. District Court on whether the FTC should be entitled to a preliminary injunction to halt a potential merger between Staples and Office...more
Merger activity in 2015 was at its highest level in years, and competition authorities in the U.S. and European Union continued to be very aggressive, challenging a number of high-profile deals in court and causing some...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week challenged Staples’ $6.3 billion bid for Office Depot, claiming that the proposed merger would significantly reduce competition nationwide in the market for office supplies to...more