Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On November 5, 2008, Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo!”) and Google Inc. (“Google”) ended their advertising agreement after the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) said that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the implementation of the agreement. According to the DOJ, both companies account for 90 percent of the Internet search advertising and Internet search syndication.…

On October 30, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) required Verizon Communications Corp. (“Verizon”) to divest assets in 100 locations in 22 States for its acquisition of Alltel Corp. (“Alltel”) to proceed. The divestitures cover the States of Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina,…

On October 29, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) decided to end its investigation into the proposed merger between Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”) and Northwest Airlines Corporation (“Northwest”).The DOJ believes that the merger will result in substantial and credible efficiencies for the two companies, which would translate into improved service by the two airlines.…

On October 28, 2008, Humberto “Beto” Lopez, vice president of El Paso Steel Doors and Frames Inc., pled guilty to conspiring to rig bids and allocate customers for certain contracts for sales of doors and other hardware for various construction projects in the El Paso area. Mr. Lopez has also agreed to cooperate in the…

On October 23, 2008, American Composite Timbers (“ACT”), a plastic marine pilings supplier located in Commack, NY, pled guilty and agreed to pay a criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with a project to repair New York’s Pier 86 where the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum is…

On October 23, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) challenged CCS Corporation’s (“CCS”) proposed $85 billion acquisition of Newpark Environmental Services (“Newpark”), a division of Newpark Resources, Inc.The FTC alleged that the proposed transaction would have combined two of only three providers of waste disposal services to the offshore oil and natural gas exploration and…

On October 21, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) decided not to challenge a joint licensing agreement by RFID Consortium LLC (“RFID”) for patents to comply with ultra high frequency radio frequency identification (“UHF RFID”) technology, which has a variety of uses including airline baggage tracking, retail product inventory and ticketing for events. RFID is…

On October 20, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to prevent JBS’s proposed acquisition of National Beef Packing Company LLC (“National”). JBS is the world’s largest beef packer and the third largest in the United States with annual sales in the United States exceeding $6 billion. National is the fourth…

On October 6, 2008, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) entered into a settlement agreement requiring The Manitowoc Company (“Manitowoc”) to divest its entire U.S. ice machine business to allow its $2.7 billion acquisition of Enodis Plc (“Enodis”) to proceed. Manitowoc and Enodis are two of the only three manufacturers of commercial cube ice machines in…

On October 1, 2008, four U.S. shipping company executives including Peter Baci of Jacksonville, FL, Kevin Gill and Gregory Glova of Charlotte, NC, and Gabriel Serra of San Juan, Puerto Rico pled guilty for their role in a broad conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices, and allocate market share for customers transporting goods between the…