Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

On December 14, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with Pittsburgh-based L.B. Foster Co. to divest a West Virginia plant used in development, manufacture and sale of certain railroad joints to Koppers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc., in order to proceed with Foster's acquisition of Portec Rail Products…

On January 6, 2011 the Federal Trade Commission challenged the consummated acquisition of rival St. Luke's Hospital (“St. Luke's”) in Lucas County, Ohio by ProMedica Health System, Inc. (“ProMedica”). In an administrative complaint, the FTC alleges that the deal will reduce competition and allow ProMedica to raise prices for general acute-care and inpatient obstetrical services,…

On December 1, 2010, in a 4-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) authorized the filing of an administrative complaint, alleging that Laboratory Corporation of America's (“LabCorp”) consummated acquisition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories (“Westcliff”) would harm competition in Southern California. In his dissenting statement, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch criticized the definition of the relevant product…

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 27, the DOJ announced that it reached a settlement that will require Baker Hughes Inc. and BJ Services Company to divest two specially equipped vessels and other assets in order to proceed with their proposed merger. According to the complaint, the transaction as originally proposed would combine two of only four companies that…

On March 29, the DOJ announced that it will not challenge Cisco Systems Inc.’s acquisition of Tandberg ASA. The EU also cleared the transaction, however, it required conditions for its approval. The DOJ concluded that the proposed deal was not anticompetitive because of the evolving nature of the videoconferencing market and the commitments that Cisco…

On March 8, 2010, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s (Blue Cross-Michigan) subsidiary, Blue Care Networks of Michigan, abandoned its attempt to purchase Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan (PHP) after the Department of Justice and the Michigan Attorney General informed the companies that they would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the acquisition. The Antitrust…