Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

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…

On October 19, the DOJ announced that Regions Financial Corporation and AmSouth Bancorporation agreed to sell 52 AmSouth branch offices with approximately $2.7 billion in deposits in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee in order to resolve competitive concerns raised by the companies’ proposed merger. The DOJ said that without the divestitures the merger would adversely affect…

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 9th, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of joint control by Arcelor Profil Luxembourg and SNCFL of CFL Cargo, by way of purchase of shares. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.Andre Barlow 202-589-1838

On September 13, the competition regulator for the European Union clashed with Microsoft, this time over security upgrades in the company’s new Windows Vista operating system. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, warned Microsoft against foreclosing competition in computer security by tying new security featrues into its Windows operating system. Both Symantec and…

On September 7, the DOJ announced that ALLTEL Corporation agreed to divest assets in rural areas of Minnesota in order to proceed with its $1.075 billion acquisition of Midwest Wireless Holdings LLC. The DOJ said that the deal as originally proposed would have resulted in higher prices, lower quality, and diminished investment in network improvements…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced a law enforcement action on August 18 challenging a 2005 acquisition that combined the natural gas liquids (“NGL”) storage businesses of Enterprise Product Partners, L.P. and TEPPCO Partners, L.P. under common ownership. The FTC’s complaint alleged that the transaction likely would result in higher prices and service degradations by…

On August 8, the DOJ announced it would not oppose a proposal which would allow 10 textile maintenance companies to bid jointly to provide textile rental and laundry services to national healthcare outpatient centers. Based on representations made in the proposal by Linen Systems for Healthcare LLC, the DOJ concluded that the proposed joint venture…

On August 1, the DOJ Antitrust Division announced that it would require Mittal Steel Company N.V. to divest one of three North American tin mills it will own after its $33 billion acquisition of Arcelor S.A. in order to proceed with the deal. After a thorough investigation, the DOJ concluded that the original deal would…