In a growing trend, states are requiring more premerger filings by enacting “baby-HSR” laws modeled after the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. These state-level statutes require parties to certain mergers and acquisitions...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) failure to obtain a preliminary injunction to block Tempur Sealy’s $4 billion proposed acquisition of Mattress Firm is yet another loss in a string of failed vertical challenges by the...more
2/6/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Vertical Mergers
In parallel, same-day rulings, a federal and state court blocked The Kroger Company’s $24.6 billion proposed acquisition of the Albertsons Companies, Inc., relying on traditional antitrust analysis and evidence of...more
12/20/2024
/ Albertsons ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Grocery Stores ,
Kroger ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Popular
For over 20 years, federal antitrust enforcers have provided guidelines to companies doing business in the United States as to when the enforcers believe competitor collaborations are anticompetitive. Following the most...more
With only a week having passed since the 2024 Presidential Election, we find ourselves awash in speculation about what a Second Trump Administration (Trump 2.0) portends for the United States and for the world. This client...more
On October 24, 2024, to the surprise of many legal observers and fashion industry executives, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured a preliminary injunction blocking a proposed $8.5 billion deal between Tapestry and...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously passed a landmark rulemaking that significantly alters reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Though less...more
On August 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion in limine in its challenge to Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons alleging that Albertsons executives intentionally deleted text...more
The Southern District of New York took the extraordinary step of granting competitor Fubo’s effort to preliminarily enjoin the launch of “Venu Sports,” a sports-streaming joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers...more
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe during the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways....more
11/6/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Mergers ,
Microsoft ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sustainability ,
Turkey ,
UK
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" (EABB) breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe in the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways. ...more
The two U.S. antitrust authorities—the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the “Agencies”)—have jointly proposed new Draft Merger Guidelines to replace...more
The "European Antitrust Bimonthly Bulletin" (EABB) breaks down the major antitrust developments in Europe in the past two months into concise and actionable takeaways....more
On February 2, 2023, Doha Mekki, Principal Deputy Attorney General (DAAG) for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, announced the agency’s withdrawal of three enforcement policy statements related to...more
2/7/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Joint Venture ,
Mergers ,
Personal Information ,
Sherman Act
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint to block Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft’s) nearly $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), the largest video game acquisition...more
12/13/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Complaints ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gaming ,
Microsoft ,
Online Gaming
On October 25, 2022, the European Commission (EC) published additional guidance on cartel leniency applications, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs do not change the standard for leniency applications...more
On October 12, 2022, the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, giving clarity as to when the new rules will apply. The DMA will enter into force on November 1, 2022, and it...more
This month, important amendments to the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into force. Implementing regulations are now being finalized which will provide further detail on each set of changes.1 The Chinese antitrust...more
On July 28, 2022, the Attorney General of the State of New York (NYOAG) flexed its antitrust muscle and brought suit against CVS Health in Manhattan state court. The NYOAG accuses CVS of violating the Donnelly Act, New York's...more
On April 20, 2022, the UK government announced its intention to introduce new powers for the UK's antitrust and consumer protection regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). These include an expansion of the...more
The European Union (EU) will soon be handed sweeping new rules to regulate the conduct of the largest digital platforms with the long-awaited Digital Markets Act (DMA). Following 15 months of intense negotiations on...more
3/31/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Popular ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Technology Sector
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost the first round of its challenge to Altria Group, Inc.’s (Altria) $12.8 billion acquisition of a 35 percent stake in JUUL Labs, Inc. (JLI). On February 17, 2022, an agency...more
The FTC's case against Facebook will be allowed to proceed now that the district court has held its Amended Complaint plausibly alleged violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act related to Facebook's acquisition of Instagram...more
1/19/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Big Tech ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Instagram ,
Monopolization ,
Sherman Act ,
Social Media ,
WhatsApp
On December 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint against the chip supplier NVIDIA challenging its acquisition of its chip design provider, and leading open-licensing powerhouse, ARM....more
On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. This lawsuit further demonstrates the Biden Administration's...more