Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

On May 6, 2011, Unilever NV (“Unilever”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached an agreement to settle antitrust concerns over its $3.7 billion acquisition of hair care company Alberto-Culver Co. (“Alberto”). The DOJ’s Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to block the proposed transaction between…

On April 8, 2011, Stericycle Inc. (“Stericycle”) entered into a settlement agreement with Department of Justice (“DOJ”) allowing it to proceed with its acquisition of Healthcare Waste Solutions Inc. (“HWS”). The DOJ along with the attorney general of the state of New York filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the transaction and simultaneously filed a…

On March 29, 2011, Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached a settlement with Dean Foods Company (“Dean”) that requires Dean to divest a significant milk processing plant in Waukesha, Wis., and related assets that it acquired from the Foremost Farms USA Cooperative, including the Golden Guernsey brand name. The DOJ’s Antitrust Division and state attorneys general…

On January 26, 2011, in a surprising enforcement action, the Canadian Competition Bureau publically announced its application to the Competition Tribunal for an order to undo the consummated acquisition by CCS Corporation (“CCS”) of Complete Environmental Inc. (“Complete”) and its proposed Babkirk Secure Landfill in northeastern British Columbia (Babkirk”). The Competition Bureau determined, following a…

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 December 14, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with Pittsburgh-based L.B. Foster Co. to divest a West Virginia plant used in development, manufacture and sale of certain railroad joints to Koppers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc., in order to proceed with Foster’s acquisition of Portec Rail Products…

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…