Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

On December 23, 2009, Agrium Inc. agreed to sell a range of assets as part of an agreement with the FTC that will allow Agrium to move forward with its acquisition of competitor CF Industries Holdings, Inc. The proposed consent order settles allegations that the acquisition would have eliminated competition in the market for anhydrous…

On December 16, 2009, Cisco announced that the DOJ terminated the mandatory waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, as amended, with respect to Cisco’s pending acquisition of Starent Networks. The DOJ chose not to issue a second request to review Cisco’s acquisition of Starent even though the acquisition led to increased…

On December 2, 2009, the FTC announced an order settling charges that Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s acquisition of Robin Hood Holdings Limited, owner of Arrow Pharmaceuticals, would have harmed consumers by eliminating future competition for important generic drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease (cabergoline) and the side effects of chemotherapy (dronabinol). Under the order’s terms, Watson…

On November 25, 2009, the FTC announced that it approved SCI’s acquisition of Palm Mortuary, Inc. (“Palm”) as long as it sold a cemetery and funeral home in Las Vegas. The FTC alleged that Las Vegas has a highly concentrated market for cemetery services, which includes burial plots, opening and closing of graves, memorials, burial…

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 13, 2009, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) settled with AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) regarding its $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. (“Centennial”). Specifically, AT&T is required to divest its assets in eight Cellular Marketing Areas (“CMA”), as defined by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), in southwestern and central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi in…

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 8, 2009, the Department of Justice announced that it would not challenge the formation of a Reliance Network, a joint venture between seven regional less-than-truckload (“LTL”) freight transportation companies, based on the representations made by the applicants.The Reliance Network is comprised of: Averitt Express Inc.; DATS Trucking Inc.; Lakeville Motor Express Inc.; Land…

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…