NCAA vs. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma: A Win for Antitrust Law and College Football Fans
Illinois Attorney General (AG) Kwame Raoul and Minnesota AG Keith Ellison have joined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit to block the acquisition of Surmodics Inc. by GTCR BC Holdings LLC, two major manufacturers...more
On March 7, 2025, the FTC filed a complaint in federal court seeking to block GTCR BC Holdings, LLC, a Chicago private equity firm, from acquiring Surmodics, Inc. The FTC alleges that Surmodics is the leading provider of a...more
The FTC’s enforcement efforts against private equity hit a significant roadblock on May 13 when a federal judge granted Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s (Welsh Carson) motion to dismiss the agency’s complaint against the...more
On December 18, 2023, The Federal Trade Commission and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice concluded a nearly two-year process of updating both the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines with the release of the...more
Details of the Merger - Golf fans and professional golfers alike were shocked by the news in early June that the PGA Tour (“PGA”) would be merging with the newly founded LIV Golf League (“LIV”) after disparaging each other...more
In March 2023, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that five additional directors have resigned from four corporate boards in response to the DOJ’s efforts to enforce prohibitions against so-called...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced Monday that it had reversed its in-house Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) Initial Decision dismissing a complaint brought by FTC staff against Illumina, Inc.’s acquisition of...more
Summary - The FTC last week signaled an expansion of its enforcement ability under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Section 5 prohibits “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce.” ...more
Late last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued formal guidance regarding the scope of its enforcement authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act. This guidance previews a material expansion of the FTC’s enforcement...more
On October 19, 2022, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a press release heralding the resignation of seven directors from ten companies’ boards of directors in response to the government’s...more
On October 19, 2022, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice announced that seven directors resigned from five different US public company boards of directors following DOJ concerns that their roles violated...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent letters to multiple public companies, investors and individuals advising of concerns of “interlocking directorates” and stating that it may bring lawsuits for...more
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division continues to push its aggressive civil and criminal agenda. While the Division has lost several high-profile criminal cases in the chicken processing industry and the labor market,...more
We previously reported on several cases involving successful antitrust challenges to proposed hospital mergers involving Hackensack Meridian Health System and Englewood Hospital in Bergen County New Jersey; RWJ Barnabas...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order, in which he described the nation’s antitrust laws as the “first line of defense against the monopolization of the American economy” and encouraged the Federal Trade...more
In the government’s ongoing efforts to increase antitrust enforcement, Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) Jonathan Kanter, head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”), opened up another front for clients to...more
On November 2, 2021, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the planned $2.175 billion merger between powerhouse publishing companies...more
If you ever noticed a coupon dispenser or colorful cardboard display while walking down the aisle of your local supermarket, there is a good chance it was put there by News Corp.’s News America Marketing (NAM) – in-store...more
A mostly forgotten statute barring competitors from having representatives on each other’s boards could be used by regulators if pressure builds for antitrust enforcement in the tech industries....more
Last week, Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act (CALERA), which provides for wide-ranging changes to the U.S. antitrust laws. CALERA follows the release of a report last...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a new initiative to terminate “legacy” antitrust judgments that “no longer protect competition.” In 1979, the DOJ adopted a general practice to include sunset provisions that...more
The use of efficiencies as a defense remains without a firm footing in law when a transaction has demonstrable and substantial anticompetitive effects. In Rob Reiner’s classic fantasy adventure The Princess Bride,...more