Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

On October 28, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the State of Minnesota, Plaintiffs to the FTC v. Lundbeck, Inc. and Minnesota v. Lundbeck, Inc. filed a Joint Notice of Appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, from the August 31, 2010 judgment denying an injunction against Lundbeck's 2006…

On September 27, the FTC approved Coca-Cola Company's $12.3 billion acquisition of the North American operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., its largest North American bottler. When the agreement was announced, Coca-Cola already owned about 34 percent of Coca-Cola Enterprises. To resolve antitrust concerns raised by the acquisition, Coca-Cola agreed to restrict its access to confidential…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) continues its emphasis on investigating and challenging small consummated transactions that were not initially reviewed. Corporate executives that enter into deals that raise competitive concerns must be aware that deals that appear to be done may not be. This is the case, even if the deal is not reportable under…

On September 9, 2010, The FTC entered into a settlement agreement with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. regarding its proposed takeover of Airgas, Inc. The settlement will require the company to sell certain liquid gas assets if it proceeds with its proposed hostile takeover of Airgas. The proposed settlement agreement resolves FTC charges that Air…

On April 29, 2010, a panel of three judges at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals gave hope to the opponents of pay-for-delay settlements, when the Court’s decision invited plaintiffs-appellants of Arkansas Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund v. Bayer AG to petition for an en banc rehearing of the case. On September 7, 2010, however,…

On August 19, 2010, the FTC and the DOJ issued the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which are available on the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2010/08/100819hmg.pdf. The five-step analytical process outlined in the 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines-market definition, competitive effects, entry, efficiencies, and failing firm defense-has been replaced with a more flexible approach to competitive effects analysis.…

On July 28, 2010, the FTC entered into a settlement agreement with Australian based Nufarm Limited (“Nufarm”) regarding its March 5, 2008 acquisition of all of the shares of United Kingdom-based A.H. Marks Holding Limited (“A.H. Marks”). Both companies held or had access to regulatory approvals from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to…

On June 14, 2010, Federal Trade Commission Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, gave a speech to the American Medical Association in Chicago amid ongoing tension between the two groups with respect to antitrust regulation in the medical industry. In an effort to address the AMA’s concerns, and to bolster a more productive relationship between the organizations, Leibowitz…