Antitrust Group

Antitrust Enforcers Confront Coronavirus by Easing Up on Competitors While Cracking Down on Price Gougers

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing antitrust enforcers around the globe to adjust their competition policies to protect their constituents from both the virus and the unscrupulous. In an antitrust variant of the Hippocratic Oath, antitrust enforcers are first easing up on competition law to ensure that enforcement does not hinder life-saving efforts at cooperation by competitors.  For example, last week in the...

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 agencies pledge quick action for anti-COVID-19 efforts.  The two U.S. federal antitrust enforcers said on Tuesday that they would move quickly to approve collaborations that businesses, including hospital systems, put together to address rapidly growing public health concerns raised by the...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

EU regulators ask companies to delay merger filings over coronavirus disruption.  European Union regulators have asked companies seeking to complete their desired mergers to delay submitting antitrust filings due to the coronavirus outbreak.  That could affect the timelines of agreed deals. Among the...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. France Fines Apple $1.2 Billion for Antitrust Issues.  France’s antitrust regulator on Monday fined Apple 1.1 billion euros, or $1.2 billion, putting more pressure on the company as it grapples with the coronavirus outbreak that has threatened its supply chains and closed its retail stores. France’s...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Novartis unit Sandoz agrees to pay $195 million to resolve antitrust charges.  Novartis’ generic drugs unit Sandoz has agreed to pay $195 million to reach a deferred prosecution agreement aimed at resolving antitrust charges, the Justice Department said. The company was charged with rigging bids and...

The Antitrust Week In Review

United Technologies, Raytheon offer EU concessions over $120 billion merger deal.  United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon Co. (RTN.N) have offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns about their plan to create a $120 billion U.S. aerospace and defense giant, a filing on the European Commission website showed on Monday. The companies submitted their concessions on Friday. The European Commission, which did...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Trump Administration Sees No Threat to Economy From Monopolies.  President Trump and his economic team see “no need to hastily rewrite the federal government’s antitrust rules,” drawing a battle line with leading Democratic presidential candidates on an issue that has increasingly drawn the...

FTC Challenge Pushes Schick Deal to Acquire Harry’s Off The Razor’s Edge

Edgewell Personal Care Co., the parent company of Schick, has abandoned its plans to purchase Harry’s Razors just days after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the merger earlier this month. In May 2019, Edgewell entered into an agreement to purchase Harry’s Inc., a start-up shaving company, for approximately $1.37 billion in stock and cash. The two companies compete in the “wet shave”...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

FTC antitrust victory on Qualcomm questioned by appeals court.  The U.S. government’s antitrust victory over chip supplier Qualcomm Inc. drew tough questions for the Federal Trade Commission from a panel of three appellate judges in San Francisco on Thursday. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard...