In a growing trend, states are requiring more premerger filings by enacting “baby-HSR” laws modeled after the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. These state-level statutes require parties to certain mergers and acquisitions...more
As of February 10, 2025, the new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) reporting requirements that expand the volume of documents and information filing parties must submit to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...more
DOJ Follows Familiar Playbook in Merger Challenge Focused on “Hot” Documents -
Following a familiar playbook and relying heavily on market share presumptions and “hot” documents describing close competition, the U.S....more
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) failure to obtain a preliminary injunction to block Tempur Sealy’s $4 billion proposed acquisition of Mattress Firm is yet another loss in a string of failed vertical challenges by the...more
2/6/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Vertical Mergers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a record-breaking $5.6 million fine on XCL Resource Holdings, LLC (XCL), Verdun Oil Company II LLC (Verdun), and EP Energy LLC (EP) to settle allegations that they engaged in...more
In parallel, same-day rulings, a federal and state court blocked The Kroger Company’s $24.6 billion proposed acquisition of the Albertsons Companies, Inc., relying on traditional antitrust analysis and evidence of...more
12/20/2024
/ Albertsons ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Grocery Stores ,
Kroger ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Popular
For over 20 years, federal antitrust enforcers have provided guidelines to companies doing business in the United States as to when the enforcers believe competitor collaborations are anticompetitive. Following the most...more
With only a week having passed since the 2024 Presidential Election, we find ourselves awash in speculation about what a Second Trump Administration (Trump 2.0) portends for the United States and for the world. This client...more
On October 24, 2024, to the surprise of many legal observers and fashion industry executives, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured a preliminary injunction blocking a proposed $8.5 billion deal between Tapestry and...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously passed a landmark rulemaking that significantly alters reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Though less...more
On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it unanimously approved a much-anticipated final rulemaking that will radically change the form and substance of Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings. The new...more
On August 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion in limine in its challenge to Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons alleging that Albertsons executives intentionally deleted text...more
The Southern District of New York took the extraordinary step of granting competitor Fubo’s effort to preliminarily enjoin the launch of “Venu Sports,” a sports-streaming joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers...more
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe during the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways....more
11/6/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Mergers ,
Microsoft ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sustainability ,
Turkey ,
UK
As the September 30, 2023, deadline for U.S. Congress to enact appropriations to fund the federal government approaches, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued contingency plans...more
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" (EABB) breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe in the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways. ...more
The two U.S. antitrust authorities—the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the “Agencies”)—have jointly proposed new Draft Merger Guidelines to replace...more
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" (EABB) breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe in the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways....more
On May 17, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenged Amgen Inc.’s (Amgen) proposed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc (Horizon). The complaint is significant in three respects....more
On February 2, 2023, Doha Mekki, Principal Deputy Attorney General (DAAG) for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, announced the agency’s withdrawal of three enforcement policy statements related to...more
2/7/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Joint Venture ,
Mergers ,
Personal Information ,
Sherman Act
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-1 to propose the Noncompete Clause Rule (the rule), which would ban essentially all noncompete clauses that employers impose on their employees and other workers....more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint to block Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft’s) nearly $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), the largest video game acquisition...more
12/13/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Complaints ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gaming ,
Microsoft ,
Online Gaming
In what might be a further expansion of antitrust enforcement of interlocking directorates, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement announcing that it now interprets Section 5 of the FTC Act to grant it...more
11/15/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Section 5 ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On October 25, 2022, the European Commission (EC) published additional guidance on cartel leniency applications, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs do not change the standard for leniency applications...more
On October 12, 2022, the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, giving clarity as to when the new rules will apply. The DMA will enter into force on November 1, 2022, and it...more