On December 18, 2023, the U.S. antitrust enforcers, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Agencies”), issued their final Merger Guidelines...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Vertical Mergers
On August 16, 2023, the US Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) brought its first enforcement action under Section 8 of the Clayton Act in 40 years. At the same time, the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ” and...more
vOn July 19, 2023, the U.S. antitrust enforcers, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Agencies”), released draft merger guidelines for public...more
8/15/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
United Healthcare Insurance Co. ,
Vertical Mergers
On June 27, 2023, the FTC and DOJ (the Agencies) jointly announced proposed changes to the HSR premerger notification form. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which appeared in the Federal Register, includes provisions that...more
On Friday, February 3, DOJ announced that it is withdrawing three policy statements of antitrust guidance it has provided and that have been adopted by the healthcare industry for close to 30 years. The statements include...more
On January 23, 2023, 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
In his 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, President Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to “ban or limit non-compete agreements.” Last week, the FTC responded by taking...more
On November 10, 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission issued a new Policy Statement indicating that the current Commission plans to expand its use of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Such an expansion would constitute a significant...more
Recent actions by the Biden administration, including the Treasury Department’s report on the State of Labor Market Competition in the U.S. Economy, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Labor (DOL) and...more
4/20/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Collusion ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage-Fixing
Recent actions by the Biden administration, including the Treasury Department’s report on the State of Labor Market Competition in the U.S. Economy, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and...more
4/13/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
No-Poaching ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
On January 24, 2022, 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
As summarized in the July 9, 2021 King & Spalding Client Alert, President Biden issued an executive order on July 9, 2021 designed to enhance competition across multiple sectors of the U.S. economy. One of the order’s key...more
7/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trade Secrets ,
Wage-Fixing
The White House announced today that President Joe Biden issued an expansive executive order designed to enhance competition across multiple sectors of the U.S. economy, including healthcare, technology, internet service,...more
Agreements between companies not to solicit or to hire each other’s employees (“no poach agreements”) have been in antitrust enforcers’ crosshairs for several years now. In 2016, the DOJ and the FTC released their joint...more
After a years-long run of successfully challenging hospital mergers, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has voted to withdraw an appeal related to its attempt to block the merger of two healthcare providers in the greater...more
On December 10, 2020, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Neeraj Jindal, a former owner of a therapist staffing company, for a criminal conspiracy to fix wages paid to physical...more
12/15/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Sanctions ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Sanctions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Indictments ,
Investigations ,
No-Poaching ,
Wage-Fixing
On Monday, September 21, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission, with the support of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, proposed changes to the rules governing merger notification under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of...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 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 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
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