The Federal Trade Commission, by a 3-2 party-line vote, has settled a vertical merger challenge in exchange for the merging companies' behavioral commitments. The decision and Commissioner statements signal tension for FTC...more
The Trump Administration leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have announced reforms regarding merger reviews. This Jones Day White Paper reviews these reforms and their strategic...more
1/15/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Privilege Logs ,
Trump Administration
The Situation: Between 2013 and 2017, the average length of a U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") Antitrust Division merger review increased 65 percent to 10.8 months.
The Response: DOJ announced reforms to improve...more
10/4/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Letters of Request ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Subpoenas ,
Third-Party ,
Transparency
After eighteen months of investigation and litigation, a federal district court has rejected the Justice Department's challenge to AT&T's $108 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Although the government could appeal, the...more
The Situation: The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently published a blog post reminding merging parties to avoid creating antitrust liability through the exchange of competitively sensitive information during merger...more
4/27/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contractual Safeguards ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Sherman Act
The Situation: The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ") has adopted new terms in recent consent decrees that enhance DOJ's ability to enforce its settlements, most importantly by lowering the evidentiary...more
2/12/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Burden of Proof ,
CFIUS ,
Consent Decrees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Mergers
In Short - The Situation: Democrats have proposed legislation that would make it easier for antitrust agencies to challenge mergers. - The Background: This announcement followed a proposal made in August, known as the "Better...more
A number of Democrats in Congress have proposed to revamp U.S. antitrust law with a "Better Deal" economic plan. The proposed legislation takes aim at large corporations and includes measures that are at odds with decades of...more
The Federal Trade Commission staff have completed a new study evaluating its process for designing and implementing merger remedies and the success of the remedies it has imposed in the past. Its report—"The FTC's Merger...more