NCAA vs. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma: A Win for Antitrust Law and College Football Fans
On May 22nd, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a joint Statement of Interest in a case against several prominent asset managers brought last year by the Texas Attorney General. In...more
Illinois Attorney General (AG) Kwame Raoul and Minnesota AG Keith Ellison have joined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit to block the acquisition of Surmodics Inc. by GTCR BC Holdings LLC, two major manufacturers...more
New U.S. merger control filing forms to take effect in February 2025 - Following publication in the Federal Register, the new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification forms will become effective on February 10, 2025....more
The Supreme Court on June 27 issued its opinion in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy in which it held that when the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment...more
Private equity is squarely in the cross hairs of regulators; the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced the launch of a...more
In prior posts, we discussed the draft, updated merger guidelines that had been issued by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (sometimes referred to as the “Agencies”) in July of last year. At that...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued final merger guidelines which significantly overhaul how the agencies determine whether potential transactions violate...more
In my earlier post in the Antitrust Advocate Blog, I noted recent setbacks that the Federal Trade Commission has experienced with respect to its regulatory authority. I then asked whether the FTC would suffer another...more
On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a groundbreaking complaint in federal court against PE fund Welsh Carson and its portfolio company, U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP), making good on its promise...more
Since the announcement of a proposed merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (“Activision”) in February 2022, enforcement agencies worldwide have adopted a spectrum of positions in response. The EU Commission...more
Consistent with the Biden administration’s whole-of-government approach to address perceived consolidation in a variety of industries, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 19, 2023, jointly announced the release of proposed Merger Guidelines that would expand significantly the number and types of transactions...more
On Monday, the FTC lost its bid to preliminarily enjoin Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the maker of the popular video game, “Call of Duty.” Based on a vertical foreclosure theory, this case marks the fourth loss for...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on June 27 issued a proposed rule pursuant to which it would amend its Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (“HSR”) form and instructions and in so doing make major “top-to-bottom” changes for the first...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced Monday that it had reversed its in-house Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) Initial Decision dismissing a complaint brought by FTC staff against Illumina, Inc.’s acquisition of...more
Aggressive merger enforcement continued through the end of 2022, with the agencies having mixed results in the courts. With several high-profile investigations still pending, the expectation is for aggressive enforcement to...more
On 10 November 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) issued a Policy Statement (the Policy Statement) outlining a significant expansion of its mandate to target “unfair methods of competition” under Section 5...more
On November 10, 2022 (following its January 2021 withdrawal of its 2015 policy statement regarding enforcement under Section 5 of the FTC Act), the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “the Commission”) issued a new statement...more
2021 has been a busy year for antitrust legislation. On February 4, 2021, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and four other senators introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Act of 2021 (“Klobuchar Bill”)....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
At both the state and federal level, antitrust enforcement agencies continue to pursue successful challenges to physician practice transactions. This article summarizes two recent enforcement actions, as well as a new state...more
On January 23, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“Third Circuit”) issued an opinion denying the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the right to recover attorney’s fees after it had successfully blocked a...more
Valero Petroleum company announced on Sept. 18, 2017 that it would abandon its plans to acquire the Plains All American Pipeline terminal facilities in Martinez and Richmond, California. These facilities appear to be the last...more
On July 13, 2017, daily fantasy sports providers DraftKings and FanDuel announced their decision to call off their proposed merger. Last month, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary...more
On June 20, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order blocking the daily fantasy sports (DFS) companies DraftKings and FanDuel from consummating their proposed...more