The Antitrust Week In Review
Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.
U.S. antitrust authorities clear Prince, Ferro specialty chemical deal. Specialty chemical maker Prince International Corp won U.S. antitrust approval to merge with rival Ferro Corp on condition that it sell three facilities, the Federal Trade Commission said. EU antitrust regulators cleared the deal in January, with some similar conditions. The deal was valued at $2.1 billion when it was announced in May 2021. Prince’s parent company, American Securities Partners VII, LP agreed to sell facilities used to make porcelain enamel frit needed to make coatings for appliances, glass enamel used to decorate glass surfaces, and forehearth colorants used to color glass bottles, the FTC said in a statement.
Broadcom under Antitrust scrutiny from FTC again – The Information. Semiconductor maker Broadcom Inc is under scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following complaints it is forcing exclusive agreements with customers, The Information reported on Friday. The FTC is in the early stages of gathering information about whether Broadcom, which has become a major supplier of WiFi and Bluetooth chips to companies like Apple Inc, illegally forced exclusivity agreements on its customers, the report added. Broadcom is blaming the supply-chain crisis to justify its demands from customers, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the situation and a document seen by The Information.
E.U. Takes Aim at Social Media’s Harms With Landmark New Law. The European Union reached a deal on Saturday on landmark legislation that would force Facebook, YouTube and other internet services to combat misinformation, disclose how their services amplify divisive content and stop targeting online ads based on a person’s ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. The law, called the Digital Services Act, is intended to address social media’s societal harms by requiring companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content or risk billions of dollars in fines. Tech companies would be compelled to set up new policies and procedures to remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda and other material defined as illegal by countries within the European Union.
U.S. FTC approves Hikma deal for Custopharm with conditions. Generic drug maker Hikma Pharmaceuticals has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Custopharm, Inc on condition that it divest an injectable steroid, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said. Hikma, which makes anesthetics, pain medications, sedatives, neuromuscular agents and other drugs, announced the deal in September as a way for it to strengthen its injectable treatments unit in the United States. It was valued at $425 million at that time.
Edited by Gary J. Malone