Articles Posted in DOJ Antitrust Highlights

Background The Trial Judge’s Opinion The United States District Court for the Northern District of California agreed with the DOJ’s characterization of Bazaarvoice’s June 2012 acquisition as one that eliminated its “closest and only serious competitor”.  In reaching its decision, the court applied the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines (“Guidelines”) and relied heavily on pre-merger “hot…

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“Antitrust Division”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) will accept Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) premerger notification filings during the U.S. federal government shutdown.The Antitrust Division and the FTC split reviews under the HSR Act, which requires that mergers or acquisitions worth over $70.9 million must notify the federal government. The HSR…

In June and July of 2013, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), filed two civil suits against alleged violators of pre-merger notification filing requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Act of 1976.HSR Act Currently, the HSR Act imposes notification and waiting period requirements on individuals and…

On January 10, 2013, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) filed a lawsuit challenging Bazaarvoice Inc.’s acquisition of PowerReviews Inc. The transaction was consummated on June 2012.Transaction Was Not Reported Under HSR Act The DOJ’s investigation of this transaction began shortly after the deal was consummated. The transaction was not reported to the U.S.…

On November 28, 2012, the DOJ announced that Amerigroup’s sale of its subsidiary, Amerigroup Virginia Inc., to Inova Health System Foundation (“Inova”) addressed the agency’s concerns with WellPoint’s proposed $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup. The DOJ said that the merger, as originally proposed, would have lessened competition substantially in the provision of Medicaid managed care…

On November 16, 2012, the Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against eBay Inc., alleging that it violated antitrust laws when it entered into an agreement not to recruit or hire Intuit Inc.’s employees.The Antitrust Division’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, in San Jose. The…

On November 16, the DOJ announced that Renata B. Hesse was appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Ms. Hesse takes over for Joseph Wayland. In August 2012, Ms. Hesse became Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal and Civil Operations in the Antitrust Division. Immediately prior to this appointment, she was a Special…

On November 14, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division entered into a settlement agreement that requires Exelon Corporation (“Exelon”) to pay $400,000 for a civil contempt violation of a consent decree. A consent decree is a binding agreement between the Antitrust Division and a defendant that is filed in federal district court and, upon entry, becomes a…

On September 19, Joseph Wayland, head of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, spoke of the Division’s recent performance and future outlook at Georgetown Law’s 6th Annual Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium.In his speech, he highlighted recent successes in tough litigation cases such as the one brought against AU Optronics Corporation for price fixing.…