Articles Posted in DOJ Antitrust Highlights

On October 21, 2011, the DOJ Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to prevent Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. and BBU Inc. (collectively, “BBU”) from acquiring Sara Lee Corporation's (“Sara Lee”) North American Fresh Bakery business. The DOJ simultaneously filed a Proposed Final Judgment, reflecting a settlement…

On June 6, 2011, the US District Court for the District of Columbia denied defendant H&R Block's motion to transfer venue. The district court ruled that H&R Block failed to meet their burden to show that a transfer of this case to the Western District of Missouri is warranted in the interests of justice. Background:…

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 encourages health care providers to form integrated organizations to jointly offer services in order to reduce costs and improve the quality of health care in the United States. Section 3022 of the Act provides for the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) to serve fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare's…

On May 23, 2011, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block H&R Block Inc.'s (“H&R”) proposed acquisition of TaxAct, a digital do-it-yourself tax preparation software provider. The DOJ's Antitrust Division filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to prevent H&R Block from acquiring 2SS Holdings Inc., an…

On May 20, 2011, the DOJ announced that VeriFone Systems Inc.(“VeriFone”), Hypercom Corp. (“Hypercom”), and Ingenico S.A. (“Ingenico”) abandoned plans for Hypercom to divest its U.S. point-of-sale (“POS”) business to Ingenico as the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) did not find the divestiture adequate to resolve the competitive concerns raised by the VeriFone/Hypercom transaction. The divestiture…

On May 10, 2011, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging George's Inc.'s (“George's”) acquisition of Tyson Foods' (“Tyson”) chicken processing complex in Harrisonburg, VA. This is a challenge to a consummated $3 million acquisition in a very limited geographic market in Virginia. The DOJ alleges that the consummated acquisition eliminates…

On May 6, 2011, Unilever NV (“Unilever”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached an agreement to settle antitrust concerns over its $3.7 billion acquisition of hair care company Alberto-Culver Co. (“Alberto”). The DOJ's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to block the proposed transaction between…

On April 8, 2011, Stericycle Inc. (“Stericycle”) entered into a settlement agreement with Department of Justice (“DOJ”) allowing it to proceed with its acquisition of Healthcare Waste Solutions Inc. (“HWS”). The DOJ along with the attorney general of the state of New York filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the transaction and simultaneously filed a…