Articles Posted in DOJ Antitrust Highlights

On May 31, the Monsanto Company and Delta & Pine Land Company (“DPL”) were required to divest a significant seed company, multiple cottonseed lines, and other valuable assets in order to proceed with their $1.5 billion merger. Monsanto was also required to change certain license agreements as a condition for proceeding with its acquisition of…

On May 22, the DOJ filed a civil antitrust lawsuit that required the Daily Gazette Company and MediaNews to undo their transaction and restore the competition that existed before May 2004, alleging that the Daily Gazette Company violated the antitrust laws when it acquired the Daily Mail newspaper from MediaNews. Daily Gazette Company is a…

On May 21, Mr. James D. Dondero, a Texas hedge fund manager, entered a settlement with the DOJ where he agreed to pay $250,000 for alleged charges of violating premerger reporting requirements. According to the complaint, Mr. Dondero acquired stock of Motient Corp. (“Motient”), based in Reston, Virgina, where he served on the board of…

On May 8, the DOJ reached a settlement with Allied Waste Industries Inc., the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States, with annual revenues of $6 billion. Allied agreed to pay $125,000 for its alleged violations of a 2000 consent decree entered in connection with Allied’s acquisition of Browning-Ferris Industries Inc.…

On May 8, the DOJ and the FTC issued a joint report, “Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry,” to inform consumers and others involved in the industry about important competition issues involving residential real estate, including the impact of the Internet, the competitive structure of the real estate brokerage industry, and obstacles to a…

On May 4, after an investigation, the Antitrust Division determined that Smithfield’s proposed acquisition of Premium Standard Farms was not likely to harm competition, consumers or farmers. The Division’s investigation of the merger of these pork packers and processors focused on fresh and processed pork, the purchase of hogs from farmers, and the purchase of…

On May 2, the DOJ filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., naming Rinker Group Limited as a defendant in the DOJ antitrust lawsuit against Cemex S.A.B. de C.V because the Rinker Board of Directors approved Cemex’s cash tender offer for Rinker. Cemex and Rinker were required to preserve the assets…

On April 18, the DOJ reached a settlement with Chicago-based Amsted Industries Incorporated in order to remedy harm to competition arising from its December 2005 acquisition of FM Industries (“FMI”). Before the acquisition could be approved Amstead had to divest certain assets. FMI formerly was a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Holding Corporation.…

On April 17, Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, announced that Deborah A. Garza will serve as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Regulatory Matters. Ms. Garza will oversee transportation, energy, agriculture, telecommunications and other regulatory matters for the Division. Most recently, Ms. Garza chaired the Antitrust Modernization…

On April 17, the DOJ and the FTC issued a joint report, “Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition,” to inform consumers, businesses, and intellectual property rights holders about the agencies’ competition views with respect to a wide range of activities involving intellectual property. The report discusses issues including: refusals to license…