On November 20, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit under section 7 of the Clayton Act to enjoin the merger between AT&T and Time Warner. According to the government, the deal—which has been in the works since October of last year—is worth $108 billion and would have a deleterious effect on consumer prices…
Tag: antitrust
The Trump Administration’s Stance on Antitrust Laws.
With Makan Delrahim’s recent confirmation by the Senate to head the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust division, the focus has now shifted to the Trump administration’s approach to corporate transaction deals and the potential appurtenant policy changes.1 Under the Obama administration, the Antitrust division continued recent trends exemplified by an increasing inclination to challenge proposed…
The Failed Merger Between FanDuel and DraftKings
The professional sports industry has proven to be a hotbed of innovation for companies seeking to capitalize on its immense fan base. One of the most rapidly developing platforms in this space has been daily fantasy sports (“DFS”). Unlike traditional fantasy sports, where “leagues” comprised of typically a dozen members compete throughout an entire sports…
Two Major Health Insurance Company Mergers Blocked: Antitrust Laws and the Future Uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act to Blame
On February 14, 2017, Aetna and Humana, two major United States healthcare companies, called off their planned merger due to a federal court ruling that blocked the deal last month.1 Anthem and Cigna, two other major US healthcare companies, also called off their planned merger the same day.2 The Aetna-Humana deal was worth $34 billion…
What’s Next for Merchants and Consumers After the Second Circuit’s Decision in United States v. American Express?
On September 26, 2016, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals threw out a 2015 antitrust decision against American Express Company.1 The decision is the latest development in a five-year saga between the U.S. Department of Justice and seventeen individual states against Amex for its “nondiscrimination provisions,” or NDPs, which are contractual provisions that prohibit…
Interlocking Directorates and Risk to Businesses
As conflicts of interest between Alphabet Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. have continued to grow, David Drummond, the senior vice president of corporate development of Alphabet, has recently resigned from his board position at Uber.1 Drummond’s resignation “highlights how a little-noticed prohibition against interlocking directorates can cause problems for technology firms and private equity groups.”2…
The Affordable Care Act at Odds with Antitrust? A Look into Hospital Mergers and Electronic Medical Record Implementations
There is a rising trend in hospital network and physician group consolidations, which has come hand in hand with the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). 1 One of the primary goals of the ACA is to facilitate the industry’s move from paper to electronic health records (EHR) and to obtain…
U.S. v. Apple: Was the Second Circuit Wrong in a Novel Antitrust Case?
On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Apple Inc. had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by conspiring to fix prices for e-books with the six largest U.S. publishers.1 The case was, at heart, a question of “whether the vertical organizer of a horizontal conspiracy” to fix prices…
O’Bannon Upheld on Appeal, Kind Of
Minor NCAA rule infractions occur frequently in college athletics.1 These minor violations generally consist of athletes, coaches and universities violating one of many NCAA regulations. Such violations include coaches holding practice for more hours than the NCAA allows or sending too many text messages to prospective recruits.2 Though some rules may seem arbitrary, the NCAA…
Brewing the Beerhemoth: Challenges Facing the AB InBev-SABMiller Deal
On Tuesday, October 13, the world’s two largest beer companies agreed to a proposed $104 billion takeover of London-based SABMiller by industry leader AB InBev. The Merger would be third-largest in history if the deal is completed, and the combined brewer would command about 30% of the global beer market by volume and about 70%…