Articles Posted in FTC Antitrust Highlights

On August 26, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) approved final amendments to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification Rules that allow HSR filings to be submitted on DVD and streamline the instructions to the Premerger Notification Form.  These updates will make the process of submitting HSR filings easier, more efficient and less burdensome. The HSR Act…

On August 25, 2016, the FTC announced that ON Semiconductor Corporation (“ON”) agreed to sell its Ignition Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (“IGBT”) business in order to settle FTC allegations that its proposed $2.4 billion acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. (“Fairchild”) is anticompetitive. According to the complaint, the merged company would have a combined share of…

On July 27, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) cleared to generic pharmaceutical deals. Mylan/Meda Deal Mylan, N.V. agreed to divest the rights and assets related to two generic products to settle allegations that its proposed $7.2 billion acquisition of Meda AB would be anticompetitive.  Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Alvogen Pharma US,…

On May 13, 2016, the FTC approved a merger American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. and Airgas, Inc. as long as the parties divest certain production and distribution assets to settle the FTC’s allegations that their proposed merger likely would have harmed competition and led to higher prices in several U.S. and regional markets. Competitive Problem…

On January 21, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission announced its annual revisions to the monetary thresholds of the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, (the “HSR Act”) and Section 8 of the Clayton Act. The revised thresholds are expected to become effective in late February 2016, 30 days after the date…

On January 22, 2016, it was reported that the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Turing Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s  decision last year to hike the price of the life-saving drug Daraprim by more than 5000 percent.  The New York Attorney General opened an investigation last October after Turing raised the price of Daraprim, a 62-year…

On Monday, October 26, 2015, in a joint statement, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice urged the state of Virginia to reform or repeal its certificate-of-need (CON) law. CON laws typically require hospitals to obtain government approval before undergoing expansion projects or purchasing major assets, including hospital equipment.  Virginia is known…

On Monday, October 26, 2015, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairwoman, Edith Ramirez, requesting that the FTC investigate possible illegal collusion by saline solution manufacturers. In their letter, the senators noted that there has been a…

On August 4, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its Best Practices for Merger Investigations.  The Best Practices provide guidance to merging parties on steps they can work cooperatively with the staff by engaging in early discussions, determining effectively when to pull and refile an HSR notification form, narrowing Second Requests, engage in a quick look…

On May 29, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued an administrative complaint alleging that Steris Corporation’s (“Steris”) proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Synergy Health plc (“Synergy”) would violate the antitrust laws by significantly reducing future competition in regional markets for sterilization of products using radiation, particularly gamma or x-ray radiation. Background On October 13,…