Department of Justice Antitrust Division

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Mergers and Acquisitions, Premerger Notification

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The dangers of prematurely exercising operational control over an acquisition target, or at least appearing to operate organizational control, are highlighted by a Department of Justice Antitrust Division action announced yesterday against two particleboard suppliers that recently dropped their planned combination. Just five weeks ago, Flakeboard America Ltd. abandoned its proposed acquisition of rival SierraPine…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Price Fixing, U.S. Department of Justice

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The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco last week upheld the price fixing convictions of Taiwanese electronics manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO), its U.S. subsidiary, and two company executives. The appellate court also affirmed a $500 million fine against AUO, the only defendant to challenge the sentence. The case is U.S. v. Hsiung, No. 12-10492. In…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, FTC Enforcement

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On June 23, 2014, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division held a workshop on “conditional pricing practices”—loyalty discounts, bundled discounts and similar pricing techniques.  Many economists, academic experts and practitioners, some of them even hailing from outside the Beltway, opined on the rationale for and against antitrust legality of such…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, FTC Enforcement, State Enforcement

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In case you missed some of those morning sessions at the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting last week, here are some of the highlights from the updates with federal and state enforcers. Agency Update with the Deputy Assistant Attorneys General There were some new faces on the panel this year at…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, FTC Enforcement, Mergers and Acquisitions

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Within the span of about two weeks, each of the federal antitrust agencies has been handed a major win in their merger enforcement efforts. Last Friday, it was the Federal Trade Commission’s turn. The U.S. district court in Boise ordered St. Luke’s Health System, Ltd.—the largest health care system in Idaho—to divest Saltzer Medical Group—the…