On Thursday, September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued a revised Merger Remedies Manual (the “Manual”), which outlines the agency’s policies regarding merger remedies in transactions that raise...more
On Tuesday, June 30, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission issued new Vertical Merger Guidelines (the “Guidelines”). Vertical mergers involve the combination of firms operating at...more
On Thursday, April 30, 2020, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute LLC (“FCS”), the largest independent medical oncology/hematology practice in the U.S., agreed to pay a $100 million fine to resolve a criminal...more
On March 24, 2020, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the Agencies) issued guidance and outlined an expedited review process for companies seeking to work together...more
Like other regulatory agencies and businesses, antitrust authorities around the globe are taking steps to address the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on their operations and the global economy. In particular,...more
On Friday, March 13, 2020 the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced plans to implement temporary new procedures for the submission of Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification...more
On Friday, January 10, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission issued new guidelines for the agencies’ review of vertical mergers. Vertical mergers involve the combination of firms...more
1/22/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Public Comment ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
On December 19, 2019, three federal agencies—the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology—issued a joint policy statement...more
On November 5, 2019, the Justice Department announced the creation of a nationwide "strike force" to address criminal antitrust violations impacting government contracting, such as price fixing and bid rigging. The strike...more
11/8/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Collusion ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
DCIS ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
FBI ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Inspector General ,
Price-Fixing ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
State Attorneys ,
USPS
On Monday, October 21, 2019, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Christopher A. Coons (D-DE) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice pushing it to provide greater clarity as to its antitrust enforcement policy on...more
10/25/2019
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Policy Statement ,
Qualcomm ,
Section 337 ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
USPTO
On June 13, 2019, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction blocking the proposed merger of North Dakota healthcare providers Sanford Health, Sanford Bismarck (collectively, “Sanford”)...more
6/18/2019
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Antitrust Division ,
Appeals ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Rebuttal
The DOJ Antitrust Division’s high profile, unsuccessful attempt to block the AT&T/Time Warner merger ended on February 26, 2019 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision to allow...more
4/10/2019
/ Antitrust Division ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
AT&T ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Self-Help Remedies ,
Television Broadcast Stations ,
Time Warner ,
Vertical Mergers
On February 15, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised jurisdictional thresholds for determining whether a proposed transaction must be reported to federal authorities under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
How could the government shutdown affect your M&A transactions? Understand the ramifications of the shutdown through the lens of antitrust, securities and exchange commission, CFIUS, export controls and economic sanctions...more
The new House Democratic majority sworn in last Thursday intends to ramp up antitrust oversight, pledging to “crack down on corporate monopolies and the abuse of economic and political power” as part of their “Better Deal”...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (the “Department”), in conjunction with the Treasury Department, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Labor, recently issued a report describing a number of concerns...more
The Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to close its investigation into the proposed merger of two health systems in eastern Massachusetts. The proposed transaction would bring together the Care Group, Inc., the...more
The Premerger Notification Office (“PNO”) of the Federal Trade Commission recently announced it would change how it and the Department of Justice evaluate transactions that involve the combination of one or more...more
On January 26, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised jurisdictional thresholds for determining whether a proposed transaction must be reported to federal authorities under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
On Wednesday, December 13, 2017, a federal district court issued an order preliminarily enjoining the merger of North Dakota healthcare providers, Sanford Health, Sanford Bismarck, (together “Sanford”) and Mid Dakota Clinic,...more
On Thursday, June 22, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the North Dakota Attorney General filed a complaint challenging the merger of North Dakota providers, Sanford Health, Sanford Bismarck (together “Sanford”),...more
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division recently brought a civil antitrust lawsuit against Duke Energy Corporation, alleging that the electric power generator engaged in illegal “gun jumping” by obtaining beneficial...more
On February 8, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division’s (the “DOJ”) request for an injunction blocking Anthem’s proposed $54 billion...more
On January 19, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised jurisdictional thresholds for determining whether a proposed transaction must be reported to federal authorities under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
On January 23, 2017, United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”), request for an injunction blocking Aetna’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of...more