Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On November 22, the nation’s two largest funeral home and cemetery chains reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, which contended that Service Corporation International’s (SCI) proposed acquisition of Alderwoods Group Inc. would lessen competition in 47 markets for funeral or cemetery services, leaving consumers with fewer choices and the prospect of higher prices…

On October 20, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge Barr Pharmaceutical, Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Pliva for approximately $2.5 billion. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the acquisition as originally structured would have eliminated current or future competition between Barr and Pliva in certain markets for generic pharmaceuticals treating depression, high blood pressure…

On October 20, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by Hewlett Packard Company of control over the U.S. software company Mercury Interactive Corporation. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it. Hewlett Packard is a technology solution provider…

On October 19, the DOJ announced that Regions Financial Corporation and AmSouth Bancorporation agreed to sell 52 AmSouth branch offices with approximately $2.7 billion in deposits in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee in order to resolve competitive concerns raised by the companies’ proposed merger. The DOJ said that without the divestitures the merger would adversely affect…

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment on October 18th against two executives from Samsung Electronics Ltd. (“Samsung”) and one executive from Hynix Semiconductor America Inc. (“Hynix America”) for their participation in a global conspiracy to fix DRAM prices. DRAM is the most commonly used semiconductor memory product, providing high-speed storage and…

The Commission charged on October 17 that Thermo Electron Corporation’s proposed $12.8 billion acquisition of Scientific International, Inc. would harm competition in the U.S. market for high-performance centrifugal vacuum evaporators (“CVEs”) in violation of the antitrust laws. Thermo and Fisher are the only two significant suppliers of high-performance CVEs in the United States and the…

On October 12, the FCC released a Notice of Inquiry for its Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming, as required by Congress. The Notice of Inquiry, which seeks comment and information on competition in the video programming market, is designed to assist the FCC with…

On October 9th, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of joint control by Arcelor Profil Luxembourg and SNCFL of CFL Cargo, by way of purchase of shares. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it. Andre Barlow 202-589-1838

On October 6, the FCC ended its investigation into Time Warner Cable’s (“Time Warner”) decision in August to drop the NFL Network without providing appropriate notice to subscribers. The FCC reached a consent decree in which Time Warner agreed that it violated an FCC rule that requires cable operators to provide customers 30 days notice…

On October 5, an Internet business that advertised and sold consumers’ phone records and records of credit card accounts to third parties agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. The settlement bars the defendants from obtaining or selling consumers’ confidential phone and credit account records unless authorized by law or…