The past month has seen interesting developments in the antitrust M&A arena, including the first ever successful private antitrust merger challenge resulting in a divestiture order, and the announcement by the Department of...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
In a recent blog posting, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an important reminder that companies and individuals may have reportable transactions under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act even if no payment exchanges...more
5/22/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Notification Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Transfer of Assets ,
Voting Securities ,
Waiting Periods
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR Act”) thresholds, which will become effective on February 28, 2018. The revised thresholds will...more
1/31/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on February 27, 2017. The revised thresholds will...more
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have jointly issued written guidance for human resource (HR) professionals on how antitrust law applies to employee hiring and...more
10/26/2016
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
On July 12, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that investment firm ValueAct Capital (“ValueAct”) agreed to pay a record $11 million fine to settle charges that it and its affiliates violated the reporting and...more
On July 20, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released revisions to its interpretation of the rule, 16 C.F.R. §802.5, that exempts certain acquisitions of “investment rental property assets” from reportability under...more
7/24/2015
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Commercial Leases ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Rental Property ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Storage Tanks
On April 17, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a settlement with Cardinal Health, Inc. (Cardinal) to resolve allegations that Cardinal, the largest and in certain areas the sole operator of...more
4/29/2015
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Injuries ,
Damages ,
Disgorgement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Monopolization ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Radiopharmaceuticals
On February 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (“Dental Board”) is not shielded from federal antitrust law under the doctrine of state-action antitrust...more
On February 10, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision finding that the merger of two healthcare providers in Idaho violated antitrust laws. St. Alphonsus Medical Center-Nampa...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on February 20, 2015. The revised thresholds will...more
On November 7, 2014, Flakeboard America Limited (Flakeboard), its parent companies, and SierraPine entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) resolving allegations that the parties engaged in illegal...more
On April 22, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a decision of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finding that the merger of two hospital systems in Ohio violated the antitrust laws. ProMedica...more
On Tuesday, February 4, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted an all-day public workshop at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. on competition issues involving biologics and biosimilars. During highly informative...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on February 24, 2014. The revised thresholds will...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revised the rule for determining when a transfer of exclusive rights to a patent in the pharmaceutical industry (including biologics and medicine manufacturing) results in a potentially...more
Patent infringement can be considered anticompetitive conduct under federal antitrust law, according to a recent ruling issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. ...more
On June 17, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust challenge to a reverse payment settlement agreement between drug manufacturers, otherwise known as a “pay-for-delay”...more
On February 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, found that a merger of two Georgia hospitals was not immune from federal antitrust laws under the "state-action" exemption, reversing a decision of the...more
2/25/2013
/ Clear-Articulation Test ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System ,
Government Entities ,
Governmental Immunity ,
Governmental Liability ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Monopolization ,
SCOTUS ,
State Action Doctrine ,
The Clayton Act
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed formalizing its process for handling withdrawals of merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act in order to better allocate its resources. The proposed changes to...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on February 11, 2013. The revised thresholds will apply to any...more
On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced it had closed its investigation of Hilcorp Alaska LLC's proposed $375M acquisition of Marathon Oil Company's Cook Inlet, Alaska natural gas production, storage, and...more