Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

On December 12, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge the terms of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) proposed $16.6 billion acquisition of Pfizer Inc.’s (Pfizer) Consumer Healthcare business. The FTC’s complaint alleged that the transaction as originally proposed would reduce competition in the U.S. markets for over-the-counter (OTC) H-2 blockers used to prevent…

The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics Director Michael Salinger testified on December 7 before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary about the FTC’s January 2006 closure of its investigation into the proposed acquisition by Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable Inc. (“TWC”) of the cable assets of Adephia Communications Corporation (“Adelphia”).Salinger explained the…

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras announced on November 14 that Mary Beth Richards will join the agency as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Richards comes to the FTC from the Federal Communications Commission, where she served as Deputy Bureau Chief and Chief of Staff in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs…

On October 31, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge the terms of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Andrx Corporation, a deal that would have led to competitive problems in the markets for 13 generic drug products. In allowing the deal to proceed while addressing these competitive problems, the Commission…

On October 31st, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Bayer Diagnostics, the diagnostic division of Bayer Healthcare, a business unit of Bayer AG of Germany, by Siemens AG of Germany. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it.…

On November 22, the nation’s two largest funeral home and cemetery chains reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, which contended that Service Corporation International’s (SCI) proposed acquisition of Alderwoods Group Inc. would lessen competition in 47 markets for funeral or cemetery services, leaving consumers with fewer choices and the prospect of higher prices…

On October 20, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge Barr Pharmaceutical, Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Pliva for approximately $2.5 billion. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the acquisition as originally structured would have eliminated current or future competition between Barr and Pliva in certain markets for generic pharmaceuticals treating depression, high blood pressure…

On October 20, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by Hewlett Packard Company of control over the U.S. software company Mercury Interactive Corporation. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it.Hewlett Packard is a technology solution provider to…

The Commission charged on October 17 that Thermo Electron Corporation’s proposed $12.8 billion acquisition of Scientific International, Inc. would harm competition in the U.S. market for high-performance centrifugal vacuum evaporators (“CVEs”) in violation of the antitrust laws. Thermo and Fisher are the only two significant suppliers of high-performance CVEs in the United States and the…

On October 3, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to intervene in the formation of United Launch Alliance, L.L.C. (ULA), a proposed joint venture between The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation. The FTC’s complaint alleges that by combining the only two suppliers of U.S. government medium to heavy (MTH) launch services the joint…