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Act 2: Remedies in the Google Search Antitrust Case

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP -- I was not alone in noting the significance of the D.C. district court's ...

August 16, 2024

Google’s Default Distribution Deals Drive Search Monopoly Decision

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP -- This week’s decision in United States v. Google represents a significant ...

August 06, 2024

Why the Capital One-Discover Merger Makes Sense

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP -- When federal agencies review bank mergers, the competition issues typically ...

August 02, 2024
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As Feds Stalk Anticompetitive Mergers, What Can Competitors Do?

Continuing to make good on President Biden’s pledge to root out and challenge anticompetitive mergers, the Antitrust Division of the Justice ...

June 11, 2024
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FTC Files Administrative Complaint to Stop $8.5 Billion Tapestry-Capri Fashion Accessory Merger

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on April 22, 2024, filed an administrative ...

April 25, 2024
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Algorithmic Pricing Agents and Price-Fixing Facilitators: Antitrust Law's Latest Conundrum

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP It is an application of artificial intelligence (“AI”) that many businesses, ...

November 17, 2023
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Agencies' Amgen Settlement Won't Protect Competition in Drug Industry

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from six states – California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin – joined in ...

September 12, 2023
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DOJ Antitrust Division May Sue to Split Live Nation/Ticketmaster

Following its ten-month investigation, the United States Department of Justice appears on the verge of filing an antitrust suit against Live Nation, ...

August 09, 2023
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Judge Calls American Airlines-JetBlue Alliance a Naked Restraint of Trade

U.S. Judge Leo T. Sorokin has permanently enjoined American Airlines and JetBlue from continuing their Northeast Alliance (“NEA”), in which the judge ...

June 08, 2023
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Battery Merger Shows Shortcomings in Antitrust Policy, Critics Say  

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and 10 consumer advocacy groups, including the American Economic Liberties Project, Public Citizen, and the Open Markets ...

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Tempur Sealy Acquisition of Mattress Firm: A Vertical Bridge Too Far for the FTC?

In a deal announced on May 9, Tempur Sealy International, Inc., the world’s largest mattress manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Houston-based ...

Ideology or Antitrust? U.S. FTC and U.K. CMA Move to Block Microsoft / Activision Deal

On April 26, 2023, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced its decision to block Microsoft’s purchase of global gaming leader, ...

EC Tells Broadcom Acquiring VMware Would Hurt Hardware Competition

On April 12, 2023, the European Commission informed Broadcom Inc. of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of VMware Inc. may harm ...

In Reversal of ALJ, FTC Commissioners Order Illumina to Unwind GRAIL Deal

In a unanimous bipartisan decision, the Federal Trade Commission released an opinion Monday (April 3, 2023) finding Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition ...

Kroger-Albertsons Merger Faces Additional Headwinds

Photo by Alexandru Tugui on Unsplash Roughly five months after announcing the largest merger in retail grocer history, Kroger and Albertsons are ...

Amazon Fails for Second Time to Dismiss Majority of Antitrust Claims

Photo by Super Straho on Unsplash For the second time in a year, Amazon lost its bid to toss an antitrust action brought by online consumers ...

Broadcom Acquisition of VMware Increasingly Unlikely to Close

Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash Following its Phase 1 investigation, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined Broadcom Inc.’s ...

Pfizer Expands Cancer Drug Portfolio with $43 Billion Biotech Acquisition

Photo of cervical cancer cells by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash Pfizer Inc. announced on March 13 plans to acquire cancer drug maker Seagen ...

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Second Circuit Reaffirms Association Rules are Concerted Conduct Subject to Section 1

Photo by Nathan Rogers on Unsplash On March 7, 2023, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived an antitrust lawsuit brought by Relevant Sports ...

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“You’re on Your Own, Kid” – Swifties’ Antitrust Class Action Against Ticketmaster Sent to Arbitration

Image: March 7, 2023, screen capture of Ticketmaster notices re Taylor Swift tickets. Live music fans have been dealt another setback in their war on ...

March 08, 2023
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FTC Drops Challenge to Meta’s Acquisition of Virtual Reality Fitness Company After Court Denies Preliminary Injunction

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash The FTC has decided to abandon its challenge to Meta Platforms Inc.’s acquisition of virtual reality (VR) exercise ...

February 21, 2023
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FTC Raises Threshold for HSR Merger Reporting by a Record $10.4 Million

Photo by Marquise Kamanke on Unsplash What's Happening On January 23, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the Hart-Scott-Rodino ...

February 03, 2023
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Southwest Airlines' December Debacle Fuels Anti-Merger Campaign Against the Industry

Photo by Owen Lystrup on Unsplash Christmas 2022 was bedlam for thousands of travelers as Southwest Airlines cancelled 16,700 flights amid severe ...

January 18, 2023
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An Unstoppable Force Meets an Immovable Object: Microsoft to Fight FTC Over Activision Deal

If anyone knows the workings of Washington’s antitrust machinery, it’s Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, who served as the company’s general counsel ...

December 12, 2022
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Competition Advocacy Groups Want to Punch Live Nation's Ticket

What was promised in 2010 to deliver a robust pro-consumer ticketing and live events industry has created exactly the opposite 12 years later. That ...

November 03, 2022
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In a Welcome Win, Judge Blocks Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster Merger

Finding the deal would substantially lessen competition in the U.S. market for publishing rights for potential top-selling books, U.S. District Judge ...

November 03, 2022
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$25 Billion Kroger/Albertsons Deal Fuels Antitrust Concerns

Federal lawmakers troubled by The Kroger Co.’s impending acquisition of one of its chief competitors, The Albertson Cos., for $25 billion, will hold ...

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DOJ Forces $85M End to "Long-Running Conspiracy" to Suppress Poultry Wages

Three poultry processors and a consulting firm that circulated wage information among them have entered a consent decree with the Department of ...

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Consumer Harm Was Foreseeable, Now Antitrust Class Action Seeks to Unwind T-Mobile/Sprint Merger

A group of AT&T and Verizon wireless subscribers have filed a proposed class action arguing that the T-Mobile / Sprint merger – despite all of ...

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Judge, Jury and Executioner: Fifth Circuit Slams Courthouse Door on Antitrust Plaintiff Denied SEP Licenses Subject to FRAND Commitments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently slammed the courthouse door on the plaintiff in Continental Automotive Systems v. Avanci, ...

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Spirit's Merger with Frontier May Face Turbulence

In early February, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines announced a $6.6 billion merger that gives Frontier a 51.5% controlling interest in a ...

FTC Implements Annual Increase of Threshold for Premerger Reporting

Premerger reporting is now required for companies working on transactions that will have an estimated value of $101 million or more at the ...

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Defense Department Takes Aim at Anticompetitive Mergers in Defense Industry

In 1990, the Department of Defense could turn to 13 companies to produce tactical missiles, eight to make fixed-wing aircraft, and another eight to ...

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DOJ's Kanter Says There Is a New Sheriff in Merger Town

Various leaders in the federal government have made it clear that they are now applying greater scrutiny to mergers and acquisitions and are not ...

January 28, 2022
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9th Cir. Upholds Antitrust Jury Verdict Against Chinese Telescope Company

HBLC · Ninth Circuit Opinion In Telescope Case By J Rubin And T LaComb 12 - 13 - 2021 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this month upheld judgment ...

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UK Competition Regulator Orders Facebook to Unwind Giphy Purchase

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered the company formerly known as Facebook to unwind its acquisition of Giphy, Inc. due to ...

December 10, 2021
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FTC Pledges Crackdown on Anticompetitive Mergers and Acquisitions

Prior approval is once again standard practice. The Federal Trade Commission has resuscitated its long-dormant policy of routinely restricting ...

December 02, 2021
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Tech “Platforms” Would Have to Prove Acquisitions Are Good for Competition Under Proposed Bipartisan, Bicameral Laws

Despite agreeing on almost nothing, Democrats and Republicans have found a common cause: the anticompetitive tactics of dominant digital platforms. ...

November 10, 2021
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DOJ: A Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster “Behemoth” Would Harm Authors and Consumers

Saying the deal would create a “publishing behemoth,” the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit on Nov. 2 ...

November 04, 2021
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FTC Chair: Tech Giants Operate Under the Radar to Buy Market Power

Since February 2020, staff members at the Federal Trade Commission have been studying past acquisitions by Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and ...

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Non-Compete Agreements Stifle Wages, Biden Seeks to Hasten Their Demise

President Biden’s July 9, 2021, Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy reflects a movement toward greater enforcement of ...

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MoginRubin Antitrust Notes July 6, 2021

A quick recap of recent antitrust-related developments in semiconductors, real estate, college sports, insurance brokerage, digital advertising, ...

July 06, 2021
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Teams vs. Slack: M&A and Competition Questions in the Collaboration Space

When it comes to companies offering workplace collaboration software platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack there is little in the way of ...

EC Green Lights $8.5B Eyewear Deal, Pending Divestitures in Three Countries

The number of players in the rapidly consolidating $140 billion global eyewear market just dropped by one as the biggest player grew bigger. The ...

March 26, 2021
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Uptick in Antitrust Litigation Predicted Under Biden Administration

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips and George Washington Law School Competition Law Director William E. Kovacic, who once chaired the agency, appeared on ...

Salesforce-Slack Merger Gets a Second Look from DOJ

Salesforce.com, Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. have received requests for additional information from the Department of Justice Antitrust Division ...

FTC Lowers Reporting Thresholds for Mergers & Acquisitions

Following a unanimous vote, the Federal Trade Commission lowered by $2 million the size of mergers and acquisitions that require the parties to ...

February 22, 2021
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Fourth Circuit Affirms Divestiture Remedy in Molded Door Market Merger Challenge

Calling the case a “poster child for divestiture,” the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the divestiture of a company in the door ...

Ninth Circuit Rebuffs Axon's Constitutional Challenge to FTC Merger Review

A decision by the Federal Trade Commission to challenge a proposed transaction as unlawful under antitrust laws, and setting the matter for a hearing ...

February 08, 2021

Citing "Unprecedented Times," Government Suspends Early Terminations of Merger Reviews

Agency review of business deals submitted to the federal government will now take at least the permissible full 30 days while the Federal Trade ...

FTC Again Moves to Block Acquisition of Shaving Industry Disruptor

On Dec. 8, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint challenging the merger of The Procter & Gamble Company and Billie, Inc. According ...

December 14, 2020
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FTC v. Facebook: Can U.S. Antitrust Law Adjust to the Internet Age

This is especially true in antitrust, where industries and markets undergo constant change brought about by innovation and changing consumer ...

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Anticipated U.S. Antitrust Suit Against Facebook Delayed by Changing Administrations

Facebook’s acquisitions of one-time rivals Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 drew a great deal of criticism from pro-competition experts. And ...

December 04, 2020
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The European Commission Accepts Narrow Commitments to Resolve Broadcom Investigation

On October 7, 2020, the European Commission accepted commitments offered by Broadcom Inc., ending its investigation into the chipmaker. Although a ...

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Auntie Em and Antitrust: Ending Ages-Old Ban, Movie Studios May Distribute Films and Own Theaters

At the end of the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously says to her Auntie Em, "There's no place like home!" It's one of the best ...

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Altria, JUUL Call FTC’s Antitrust Complaint 'Ill-Conceived' and Deal Good for Competition, Consumers

Altria must show it was failing in the e-cig business for deal to survive. Altria Group, Inc. and JUUL Labs, Inc. fired back at the FTC’s April ...

August 18, 2020
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California High Court: Interference With 'At Will' Contract Requires 'Separate Wrong' to be Actionable

The sky is not falling. Opinion limited to 'at will' contracts. When a third party craters a contract, you and the other contracting party almost ...

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Seventh Circuit Breathes New Life into Refusal-to-Deal Claims

On Feb. 24, 2020, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived refusal-to-deal and tying claims brought against Comcast Corp. by Viamedia Inc. ...

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Dining Delivery Disruptors Disrupted: DOJ, FTC Should Examine Uber's Planned Purchase of Grubhub, Senators Say

Driven by competitive pressure and pandemic-related losses, Uber Technologies Inc. has expressed its intention to acquire competitor Grubhub Inc. to ...

End of an Era: The U.S. is No Longer the Authority Figure for Multinational Mergers

[Editor's Note: An earlier version of this post inaccurately described the work of the Federal Trade Commission. The authors wish to thank Bruce ...

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What Bankruptcy Counsel Need to Know About Antitrust Law: Nothing Is Free and Clear

Antitrust law doesn't take a back seat to bankruptcy. While bankruptcy is no one's idea of a dream, the beauty of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is that it ...

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Ticketmaster, Live Nation Get Booed: Concert-Goers File Class Action for “Unchecked” Abuse of Market Power

Live Nation Threatens Anyone Who Doesn’t Play Along, Plaintiffs Allege Concert-goers tired of paying “supracompetitive fees” on ticket purchases from ...

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Is a Moratorium on Mergers During the Pandemic a Bridge Too Far?

In an interview with Politico’s Leah Nylen and Betsy Woodruff Swan, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) explained that he wants the next coronavirus relief ...

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Private Antitrust Action Follows FTC Complaint Against Altria and Juul Over E-Cigarette Deal

Living by the adage “if you can’t beat them, join them,” tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc. acquired a 35% stake in e-cigarette market leader Juul ...

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Is a Pandemic a Material Adverse Event in M&A?

Reuters has reported that Gray Television Inc. has withdrawn its $8.5 billion offer to buy Tegna Inc. due to the potential impact of the COVID-19 ...

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U.K. Begins Phase II Probe of Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger

On March 10, 2020, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority gave Cengage and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum – provide remedies that cure the ...

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UK Threatens Phase II Review of Cengage/McGraw-Hill Deal

On March 10th, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave Cengage Learning and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum: address competition concerns or ...

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Are These the First Steps Toward a New Approach to Merger Control?

Big Tech mergers make big headlines, but there is much more to a deal than how much money changes hands. More important questions need to be ...

March 03, 2020
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FTC, FDA Team Up Against Anticompetitive Tactics in Biological Product Industry

Anticompetitive conduct and misleading advertising practices in the burgeoning biosimilars market – where nearly identical versions of bioilogics are ...

February 28, 2020
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Consolidation of Financial Markets Continues as Morgan Stanley Offers to Buy E*TRADE, Pioneer of Low-Cost Online Trading Segment

Morgan Stanley’s proposed $13 billion all-stock acquisition of the popular E*TRADE online discount brokerage made big headlines last week. While no ...

February 26, 2020
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Treasury’s New Regs Address Impact of Foreign Investments, Other Deals on National Security

The U.S. Treasury Department’s final regulations, giving it more power to scrutinize any national security risks that may arise from deals between ...

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FTC Moves to Block Acquisition of Innovative Player That Has Been Good to Wet-Shave Razor Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to challenge Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s proposed $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry’s, Inc. ...

February 07, 2020
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Agencies’ Antitrust Suit Against Drug Maker Underscores Challenges of Bringing Biosimilars to Market

The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General have sued Vyera Pharmaceuticals and two of its executives for antitrust law ...

February 05, 2020
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FTC Announces 2020 ‘Size of Transaction Thresholds’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Jan. 28, 2020, that the “size-of transaction threshold” for reporting proposed mergers and ...

February 04, 2020
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Lawsuit Opposes Creation of Textbook Publishing Duopoly, But Omits a Critical Remedy

Two of the three dominant college textbook publishers – McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. and Cengage Learning Holdings II, Inc. – have agreed to merge. ...

February 04, 2020
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At Long Last: FTC, DOJ Issue New Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have released for public comment their joint draft guidelines which courts may ...

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Company Sues to Hold the FTC and Its Merger Review Process Unconstitutional

“If that procedure sounds unfair, that’s because it is.” That’s how Axon Enterprise, Inc. describes the inner workings of the Federal Trade ...

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Schwab/TD Ameritrade Deal Would Create a Wealth Management Market Dominator

Charles Schwab Corp. has announced it will acquire TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. for $26 billion in stock. But the merger should receive significant ...

January 03, 2020
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FTC Challenges Illumina- PacBio Merger Over Next Gen DNA Sequencing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging Illumina Inc.'s $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (PacBio), ...

December 18, 2019
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Undeterred by Challenges, Google Makes Another Move to Harvest Healthcare Data

You have to give Google credit. It’s no quitter. Despite pressure in the United States and Europe that might tell other companies to take a breath, ...

December 06, 2019
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Spurned by HP Board of Directors, Xerox Gets Hostile, and is Spurned Again

Copy equipment giant HP Inc. turned down the much smaller Xerox Holdings Corp.’s acquisition overtures twice in one week as the exchange of ...

Anheuser-Busch InBev, Craft Brew Alliance Take Relationship to the Next Level

After a 25-year business relationship, Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide, Inc. (ABI) has agreed to acquire the Craft Brew Alliance (CBA). ABI currently ...

November 20, 2019
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China's TikTok Facing Privacy & Security Scrutiny from U.S. Regulators, Lawmakers

Reuters broke the story that the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is conducting a national security ...

November 08, 2019
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Billion-Dollar Merger of DNA Sequencing Firms Opposed by U.K., Questioned in U.S.

DNA sequencing giant Illumina, Inc.’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. has drawn opposition in the U.K. ...

November 05, 2019
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Take Our CLE Webinar: The Intersection of Antitrust and Privacy

Moderator & Speaker: Daniel J. Mogin | Managing Partner, MoginRubin LLP Speakers: Jennifer M. Oliver, CIPP/US | Partner, MoginRubin LLP Thomas N. ...

Colleges, Students Tell DOJ McGraw-Hill/Cengage Merger Would Create a Textbook Duopoly

Two of the three dominant college textbook publishers – McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. and Cengage Learning Holdings II, Inc – have agreed to merge, ...

September 30, 2019
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Consumer Groups, Unions to FTC: AbbVie-Allergen Merger Will Deny Access to More Effective and Affordable Drugs

In a September 13, 2019 letter, seventeen consumer advocacy groups and unions (led by Public Citizen Inc.) sent a clear message to the Federal Trade ...

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DOJ Opposes Sabre’s Acquisition of Airline Ticketing Disrupter Farelogix

When a company with a new idea shakes up an industry and delights consumers, it is tempting for established players to devour them. But is that in ...

September 03, 2019

CBS and Viacom Get Back Together to Serve Largest Share of U.S. TV Market

By Dan Mogin and Timothy Z. LaComb CBS Corp. is buying Viacom in an all-stock transaction that values Viacom at its current stock market ...

Remedy or Misadventure? DOJ Proposes Creation of New Competitor to Allay T-Mobile/Sprint Anticompetition Concerns

The federal government and five state attorneys general reached a proposed settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint on July 26, ending their opposition to ...

AbbVie Buying Allergan for $63B, Creating a Dominant Player in Beauty Drug Market

AbbVie Inc. is acquiring Dublin-based Allergan PLC for approximately $63 billion in cash and stocks, the companies announced to today. This will give ...

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Add-On Acquisitions Require Antitrust Due Diligence, Expertise, and Proactivity

With the uptick in global private equity add-on acquisition activity comes the usual M&A-related risks, but getting out in front of any potential ...

April 22, 2019

Entering Into a Naked No-Poach Agreement? Bring a Lawyer.

Employers and business owners who wish to protect themselves when employees leave for new positions -- taking with them valuable knowledge that ...

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Facebook’s Messenger Integration Plan Greeted With Anti-Competition, Anti-Privacy Criticism

In a move that could redefine how 2.6 billion people use Facebook Messenger and Facebook’s acquired WhatsApp and Instagram apps, The New York Times ...

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