Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

On February 22, 2011, Judge Andrew J. Guilford of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) motion for a preliminary injunction and also dissolved the temporary restraining order that had been in place since mid-December. The district court ruled that the FTC had not shown that…

On February 24, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission put into effect the revised thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act, which requires premerger notification for certain large transactions. Federal law requires that the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice be notified of mergers, acquisitions, and other transactions of a certain size prior to…

On January 6, 2011 the Federal Trade Commission challenged the consummated acquisition of rival St. Luke’s Hospital (“St. Luke’s”) in Lucas County, Ohio by ProMedica Health System, Inc. (“ProMedica”).In an administrative complaint, the FTC alleges that the deal will reduce competition and allow ProMedica to raise prices for general acute-care and inpatient obstetrical services, significantly…

On December 1, 2010, in a 4-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) authorized the filing of an administrative complaint, alleging that Laboratory Corporation of America’s (“LabCorp”) consummated acquisition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories (“Westcliff”) would harm competition in Southern California. In his dissenting statement, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch criticized the definition of the relevant product…

On October 28, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the State of Minnesota, Plaintiffs to the FTC v. Lundbeck, Inc. and Minnesota v. Lundbeck, Inc. filed a Joint Notice of Appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, from the August 31, 2010 judgment denying an injunction against Lundbeck’s 2006…

On September 27, the FTC approved Coca-Cola Company’s $12.3 billion acquisition of the North American operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., its largest North American bottler. When the agreement was announced, Coca-Cola already owned about 34 percent of Coca-Cola Enterprises. To resolve antitrust concerns raised by the acquisition, Coca-Cola agreed to restrict its access to confidential…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) continues its emphasis on investigating and challenging small consummated transactions that were not initially reviewed. Corporate executives that enter into deals that raise competitive concerns must be aware that deals that appear to be done may not be. This is the case, even if the deal is not reportable under…

On September 9, 2010, The FTC entered into a settlement agreement with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. regarding its proposed takeover of Airgas, Inc. The settlement will require the company to sell certain liquid gas assets if it proceeds with its proposed hostile takeover of Airgas.The proposed settlement agreement resolves FTC charges that Air Products’…

On April 29, 2010, a panel of three judges at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals gave hope to the opponents of pay-for-delay settlements, when the Court’s decision invited plaintiffs-appellants of Arkansas Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund v. Bayer AG to petition for an en banc rehearing of the case. On September 7, 2010, however,…