Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On December 22, the Commission received a petition from Service Corporation International (SCI) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval to divest to Keystone America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Keystone North America, Inc., the following companies and properties: 1) Hankins & Whittington-Dilworth Chapel, Charlotte, North Carolina; 2) Bush River Memorial Gardens, Columbia, South Carolina;…

On December 21, the DOJ announced that in 2006 the Antitrust Division marked its second highest level of criminal fines obtained in Division history. The Division also experienced increases in merger filings and entered into more merger settlements than the previous two years combined. Further, the Division supported initiatives to improve the analysis of civil…

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, on December 20, a federal court shut down a payment processing operation that allegedly helped fraudulent telemarketers take millions of dollars from consumers’ bank accounts. According to the FTC’s complaint, since at least January 2003 the operation has aided at least nine Canada-based, advance-fee credit card schemes…

Local governments will have 90 days to act on cable-franchise applications filed by AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications and other entities with existing rights to access city-owned conduits, the FCC ruled in an action on December 20 that split the agency along partisan lines. With support from major phone firms, FCC chairman Kevin Martin championed franchise…

On December 20, the Commission received a petition from Service Corporation International (SCI) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval to divest: 1) Conroe Memorial Park, Conroe, Texas; 2) Harper-Talasek Funeral Home, Killeen, Texas; 3) Palmer Mortuary, Sequin, Texas; 4) Trevino Funeral Home, Brownsville, Texas; 5) Darling-Mouser Funeral Home, Brownsville, Texas; 6) Elmwood Funeral Home, Abilene,…

On December 19, the Commission received a petition from Service Corporation International (SCI) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval of a proposed divestiture related to SCI’s recent acquisition of Alderwoods. In the FTC’s consent agreement and order allowing the transaction to proceed with conditions, SCI and Alderwoods were required to divest a range of funeral…

On December 15, the Antitrust Division announced that it is amending its 2001 Merger Review Process Initiative in order to further streamline the merger investigation process to improve the efficiency of the Division’s investigations while reducing the cost, time and burdens faced by parties to transactions that are reviewed by the Division. The amendments to…

To circumvent federal limits on radio ownership, investors trying to buy industry giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. (“Clear Channel”) plan to become passive owners in some radio stations they already own and divest others. According to their merger application submitted Friday, December 15, to the FCC, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP (“Lee”) and Bain Capital…

On December 14, operators who promised Spanish-speaking consumers “designer” merchandise but delivered knock-offs and outdated electronics will give up approximately $235,000 to settle FTC charges that their scam violated federal laws including the Do Not Call Rule. The telemarketers called Spanish-speaking customers, telling them they had been selected to get a valuable “prize,” such as…

On December 12, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge the terms of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) proposed $16.6 billion acquisition of Pfizer Inc.’s (Pfizer) Consumer Healthcare business. The FTC’s complaint alleged that the transaction as originally proposed would reduce competition in the U.S. markets for over-the-counter (OTC) H-2 blockers used to prevent…