Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

On October 8, 2007, the European Commission (the “Commission”) initiated Phase II proceedings into the proposed acquisition of Reuters by Thomson. The in-depth assessment affords the Commission the opportunity to further examine the impact on competition of the proposed acquisition on the affected markets, notably for the supply of financial information. In particular, the Commission…

On October 9, 2007 the Federal Trade Commission entered into a settlement agreement with Kyphon, Inc. (“Kyphon”) that allows Kyphon to acquire the spinal assets of Disc-O-Tech Medical Technologies, Ltd. and Discotech Orthopedic Technologies, Inc. (collectively “Disc-O-Tech”).According to the complaint filed with the settlement agreement, the post-merger U.S. market for minimally invasive vertebral compression fracture…

On October 3, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it will not continue with administrative litigation challenging Western Refining, Inc.’s acquisition of Giant Industries, Inc. The vote to dismiss the administrative complaint was 3-2.Originally, the FTC had voted to attempt to block the proposed acquisition in April 2007, and filed complaints before both a…

On January 9, 2004, Sony Corp of Japan and Bertelsmann AG of Germany notified the European Commission (the “Commission) of their intention to combine their global recorded music businesses into a joint venture under the name of SonyBMG. They notified under the old EC Merger Regulation.The Commission approved the merger unconditionally on July 20, 2004.…

In a recent judgment dated September 30, 2007, the Federal Supreme Court held that even after parties abandon their merger plans due to a prohibition decision by the German Federal Cartel Office (“BKartA”), German courts hold jurisdiction to rule on the question as to whether the BKartA was right to prohibit the proposed merger. The…

On September 27, FirstGroup plc entered into a settlement agreement with the DOJ for First Group to sell off a large school bus contract and associated assets in Alaska in order to progress with its acquisition of Laidlaw International Inc. Without the settlement agreement, the DOJ believed the transaction raised competition concerns in the provision…

On August 9, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission announced a complaint challenging Jarden Corporation’s (Jarden) proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of sporting equipment manufacturer K2 Incorporated (K2). FTC alleges that the deal would be anticompetitive and detrimental to consumers of monofilament fishing line. Monofilament fishing line is the most widely-used and least expensive type of fishing…

On August 7, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission overruled its in-house judge’s previous decision to break up a seven year old hospital merger, allowing it to stay intact even though the deal caused prices to increase. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation (ENH) acquired Highland Park Hospital in January 2000, and as a result, combined ENH’s Evanston…

On August 6, 2006 the DOJ’s Antitrust Division requested a federal judge in Washington, D.C. to appoint a trustee to sell Mittal Steel Company N.V.’s Sparrow Point facility that’s located near Baltimore to resolve antitrust concerns related to Mittal’s proposed acquisition of Arcelor S.A. The acquisition as originally proposed would substantially lessen competition in the…

IHOP Corporation announced its plans to buy Applebee’s International Inc. for $25.50 per share, as the newly restructured company seeks growth outside its pancake chain. IHOP franchises almost all of its restaurants, and believes it can improve the currently struggling chain by franchising a majority of Applebee’s 508 company-operated restaurants.Applebee’s said earlier this year it…