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Antitrust Today

A Streetcar They Desired

Posted  11/24/10
Zipcar Inc., the worldwide leader in car-sharing with over 500,000 members and 8,000 vehicles, was granted approval in its bid to acquire Streetcar Limited, a leading car-sharing company in the UK.  The Competition Commission, the UK’s independent public body responsible for investigating mergers, found it unlikely that the merger would lead to a decrease in competition, thereby permitting the acquisition to...

Inpatient Psychiatric Service Providers Can Put Their Minds At Rest As They Settle With FTC To Complete $3 Billion Acquisition

Posted  11/18/10
On November 15, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement of its claims that the proposed acquisition of Psychiatric Solutions Inc. by Universal Health Services Inc. would violate antitrust laws by combining the two largest providers of acute inpatient psychiatric services in three geographic markets (Delaware, Puerto Rico, and Las Vegas), decreasing competition for such services (click here to view...

Antitrust Regulators Will Be Navigating Health Care Reform In Evaluating New Accountable Care Organizations

Posted  10/18/10
While doctors and medical organizations have long had to navigate antitrust concerns in their practices, antitrust regulators will now have to consider health care reform in evaluating collective action by health care providers in groups known as care accountable care organizations (“ACOs”). ACOs are health care provider groups responsible for the cost and quality of care delivered to a group of patients cared...

Energizer Bunny Navigates Razor’s Edge In Bid For American Safety Razor Company

Posted  10/8/10
Despite looming antitrust hurdles, Energizer Holdings Inc. is one step closer to acquiring a bankrupt shaving products competitor after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted Energizer permission to bid on American Safety Razor Company. American Safety filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 28, citing increased competition and the loss of customers, namely Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,...

Feds Nix High-Tech Non-Solicitation Agreements

Posted  10/1/10
Employees at six high-tech companies can be expecting more cold calls with job offers, thanks to a settlement engineered by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). DOJ’s Antitrust Division has reached a settlement agreement with Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, and Disney’s Pixar unit, which will enable those companies to compete more vigorously for each other’s employees.  According to the DOJ, the...

Ship Owners’ Insurance Clubs Come Under EU Microscope

Posted  09/1/10
The European Commission has opened a probe to investigate whether marine-insurance agreements among ship owners in the International Group of P&I Clubs (“IG”) restrict competition by blocking rivals from the market. The IG is comprised of 13 worldwide “protection and indemnity” clubs of ship owners, which together provide insurance to approximately 93 percent of ocean ships. The Commission is concerned...

Feds Debut Kinder, Gentler Horizontal Merger Guidelines

Posted  08/27/10
On August 19, 2010 – after 18 years, including a year-long revision process – the DOJ and FTC finally released a new – and kinder, gentler – version of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines. The Guidelines, originally adopted in 1968 and previously revised in 1992, “outline the principal analytical techniques, practices and the enforcement policy of the [DOJ and FTC] with respect to mergers . . . involving...

Oneworld Airline Alliance Granted Antitrust Immunity By U.S. And E.U.

Posted  07/29/10
More than a decade after British Airlines and American Airlines first sought antitrust immunity for their global alliance, the U.S. Department of Transportation last week granted their request. The immunity allows the members of the so-called Oneworld Alliance – including British Airlines, American Airlines, and Iberia of Spain – to coordinate on prices, capacity, and service.  The U.S. approval follows on the...

China Edges Into Antitrust Enforcement With Break Up Of Price-Fixing Cartel

Posted  06/28/10
While no one may be predicting China will be the antitrust powerhouse of the 21st Century, its days as an antitrust neophyte appear to be ending. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) of China has levied fines and administrative penalties against more than 20 producers of rice noodles.  This enforcement action represents the first application of Article 13 of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law...

Gulf Crisis Trumps Antitrust Concerns

Posted  06/18/10
Cooperation among competitors is usually the kind of activity that raises antitrust concerns.  However, with thousands of barrels of dirty crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis, the head of Federal Trade Commission is seeking to ease concerns that cooperation among competing energy companies to help the federal government solve the crisis in the Gulf would face scrutiny under federal antitrust...
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