Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

Berkshire Hathaway Agrees to Pay $896,000 Maximum Civil Penalty for HSR Violation On August 20, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire”) agreed to pay a civil penalty of $896,000, the maximum civil penalty that could have been imposed, for its alleged violation of the premerger notification and filing requirements…

On May 30, 2014, Judge Beryl Howell of the federal district court of the District of Columbia upheld the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) newly adopted HSR rule governing reporting of transfers of certain exclusive patent rights in the pharmaceutical industry. The rule was adopted in November of 2013.  The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America…

On May 30, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) approved the merger between Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, the two largest men’s wear companies without any conditions. On January 28, 2014, the FTC issued a second to request to review the transaction.  After approximately four months, the FTC determined that ample competition existed in…

On April 24, 2014, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it has reached an agreement with Baazarvoice which will remedy its illegal acquisition of PowerReviews. Under the proposed remedy, Baazarvoice will sell all the assets it obtained from its acquisition of PowerReviews to a divestiture buyer, and to compensate it for PowerReview’s deteriorated market…

On April 17, 2014, the Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Deborah Feinstein, praised the agency’s role in preventing Jostens, Inc. (“Jostens”) from acquiring American Achievement Corp. (“AAC”). In a statement, she said, “The parties’ abandonment of the transaction preserves competition for consumers in the markets for class rings, which are an…

Our own Robert Doyle is often sought out by premier news agencies for comments on the leading anti-trust matters of the day, and recently, Bloomberg interviewed Bob on Hertz’s potential re-acquisition of several locations which it had divested to Advantage Rent a Car during its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty. The resulting Bloomberg article, including quotations…

On April 15, 2014, the FTC approved a petition from Toys “R” Us (“TRU”) to reopen and modify a 1998 final Commission order. In that order, Toys ‘R’ Us, Inc. v. FTC, 221 F.3d 928 (7th Cir. 2000), TRU was found, among other things, to have used its significant market power to orchestrate a “hub-and-spoke” conspiracy…

On April 14, 2014, the FTC announced that it reached a settlement agreement with Akorn Enterprises (“Akorn”), which allows it to proceed with its acquisition of Hi-Tech Pharmacal, Inc. (“Hi-Tech”). Specifically, Akorn and Hi-Tech will sell the rights and assets to three generic prescription eye medications and two generic topical anesthetics to Watson Laboratories, Inc.,…

On April 10, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it will end its litigation against Ardagh Group SA’s $1.7 billion acquisition of Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc.’s U.S. bottling operations, after the former agreed to divest six of its nine glass container plants in the United States. The case began when the FTC requested for…

A recently-appointed Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) official has reportedly responded to criticism that the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is in conflict with federal antitrust law, writing a letter to the New York Times earlier this week to defend the interaction of the legislative areas. Martin Gaynor of the FTC Bureau of Economics wrote a letter…