Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

On November 2, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released an opinion stating that the Realcomp II (“Realcomp”), a real estate multiple listing service (“MLS”) serving southeast Michigan, took part in anticompetitive practices by restricting some of its members access to its database.An MLS is a database that includes members’ home listings information. Members are…

On October 14, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) settled with Pfizer Inc. regarding its proposed $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth. According to the FTC, the proposed transaction would have reduced competition in several U.S. markets for the manufacture and sale of animal vaccines and animal pharmaceutical products. Veterinarians and other animal health product customers…

On October 7, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) settled its litigation regarding Carilion Clinic’s (“Carilion”) acquisition of two outpatient clinics. On July 24, 2009, the FTC issued an administrative complaint challenging Carilion’s August 2008 acquisition of two outpatient clinics in the Roanoke, Virginia area. Prior to the acquisition, the Center for Advanced Imaging (“CAI”)…

On September 25, 2009, the FTC settled with K+S Aktiengesellschaft (“K+S”) regarding its $1.68 billion proposed acquisition of Morton International, Inc. (“Morton”). The proposed merger would have combined K+S’s subsidiary, International Salt Company LLC (“ISCO”) with Morton. According to the FTC, the combined company would have enjoyed a 70% market share of the bulk de-icing…

On September 4, the FTC filed comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Notice of Inquiry regarding development of a National Broadband Plan that will seek to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability. In its comments, the FTC states that the FCC should take into consideration the FTC’s two primary…

On August 3, the Federal Trade Commission said it will continue to investigate the relationship between the boards of Apple, Inc. and Google, Inc. even after Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, resigned from Apple’s board earlier in the day. Richard Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, commended both companies for “recognizing that sharing directors…

On July 29, Thoratec reported that it had been informed by the FTC that the FTC would challenge its $282 million acquisition of Heartware. The parties decided to abandon the merger two days later.The FTC’s complaint alleged that the deal would be illegal because it would substantially reduce competition in the U.S. market for left…

On July 24, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint challenging Carilion Clinic’s August 2008 acquisition of two outpatient clinics in the Roanoke, Virginia, area. Prior to the acquisition, the Center for Advanced Imaging (“CAI”) and the Center for Surgical Excellence (“CSE”) had strong reputations for offering high-quality care and convenient services at…

On July 6, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) modified a 2004 consent order against Aspen Technology, Inc. (“Aspen Tech”). On May 31, 2002, Aspen Tech consummated a $106.1 million acquisition of Hyprotech, Ltd., its closest competitor in developing and supplying certain specialized engineering process simulation software products, according to the FTC. In August 2003,…