Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On March 13, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced revisions to its rules regarding the FTC’s process of determining whether to continue on with an administrative challenge to a merger in the situation when it loses a preliminary injunction motion in federal court. When the FTC seeks to challenge a transaction, the FTC generally…

The key to closing transactions that raise straightforward antitrust concerns in a relatively short time frame is the antitrust counsel’s and the merging parties’ ability to effectively cooperate with the Antitrust Division staff tasked with reviewing the transaction. A.    Martin Marietta/Texas Industries On June 26, 2014, the Antitrust Division approved Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.’s $2.7…

On December 11, 2015, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) approved Continental AG’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Veyance Technologies with conditions.   The settlement agreements requires Continental to divest the North American commercial vehicle air springs business of Veyance and to waive an exclusivity requirement in its supply agreement to resolve a vertical antitrust concern. The Antitrust…

On November 10, 2014, President Obama forcefully stated his position on net neutrality.  While acknowledging that the FCC is the agency that has the authority to create new rules protecting net neutrality, President Obama stated that the FCC should create “the strongest possible rules” to stop “paid prioritization” and other actions that favor the transmission…

On June 17, 2014, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) blocked the proposed P3 Network shipping alliance between Denmark’s AP Maller-Maersk (“Maersk”), Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Company (“MSC”), and France’s CMA CGM (“CMA CGM”). This is MOFCOM’s second block since it started conducting merger reviews approximately six years ago.  This is the first time that MOFCOM blocked…

On November 7, 2014, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that it obtained a $5 million settlement with Flakeboard America Limited; its parent companies, Celulosa Arauco y Constitución S.A. and Inversiones Angelini y Compañía Limitada; and SierraPine for illegal pre-merger coordination in violation of the antitrust laws and of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act…

On November 10, 2014, the American Antitrust Institute (“AAI”) announced that Diana Moss will succeed founder Albert Foer as President and CEO of the leading competition advocacy group, effective January 2015. “I speak for the entire AAI Board of Directors in enthusiastically welcoming Diana as our new President and CEO as of this coming January.…

On November 3, 2014, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division challenged National CineMedia, Inc.’s (“NCM”) proposed acquisition of Screenvision by filing a lawsuit in federal court.  The transaction would have combined the only two significant cinema advertising networks in the United States. Background   On May 5, 2014, NCM, Inc. entered into the Merger Agreement to…

On November 5, 2014, the DOJ announced that Embarcadero Technologies Inc. and CA Inc. terminated Embarcadero’s proposed acquisition of CA Inc.’s ERwin data modeling product suite. Background In March of 2014, Embarcadero Technologies announced that it would acquire CA Inc.’s ERwin data modeling suite. Data modeling software is used to view and streamline enterprise data,…

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division continues to send a strong message to individuals engaged in conspiracies to rig public real estate foreclosure auctions through criminal enforcement.  Punishing real estate investors engaged in illegal activity that harms struggling homeowners and financial institutions continues to be a priority for the Antirust Division. Alabama Public Real Estate…