Steptoe's antitrust team counsels clients at every stage of the merger review process: jurisdictional filing analyses, merger feasibility studies, remedies and structuring, and guiding transactions through enforcement agency investigations.
We appear before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as before the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (DG COMP) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK. In addition to representing parties to transactions, we also have a robust practice representing third parties to oppose proposed transactions or negotiate favorable remedy terms. In addition to the US, EC, and UK, we also secure clearances for transactions in many EU Member States, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and coordinate teams of local counsel in all countries with active merger control regimes, including China, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil, among others.
We represent clients in many industries including advertising, airline, chemicals, defense, electric utility and power generation, financial services, food production, Internet, IT, life sciences, maritime, pharmaceuticals, pipeline, railroad, retailing, telecommunications, trucking, among others.
Representative Matters
Mergers, Acquisitions, & Joint Ventures
- Represented DISH in successfully challenging the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, forging a remedy to make DISH the fourth mobile carrier alongside T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, and then successfully defending the merger as conditioned in antitrust litigation in two federal courts.
- Successfully advised Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. and PSEG Power for antitrust and related regulatory approval issues in the proposed sale of its fossil generating fleet to PSEG’s generation competitors. This is one of the largest fossil fleets in the PJM regional market.
- Represented American Express Global Business Travel in the US and international antitrust review of its 2021 acquisitions of Egencia, the leading digital travel management platform, from Expedia Group, and of Ovation Travel Group, including Lawyers Travel. These acquisitions followed on the 2018 acquisition of Hogg Robinson Group, another leading global travel management company. *
- Represented BNSF Railway Company before the Surface Transportation Board in proceedings regarding the merger between Canadian Pacific Railway Limited and Kansas City Southern Railway.
- Successfully counseled and advised Cigna in connection with its acquisition of Express Scripts, a vertical transaction that the DOJ approved unconditionally. *
- Successfully overcame horizontal and vertical merger issues for Fresenius Medical Care to close the multibillion-dollar acquisition of the largest home hemodialysis equipment supplier, following an FTC Second Request investigation. *
- Provided creative transaction structuring advice that was critical in facilitating the $18 billion investment by SK Hynix in Toshiba’s NAND (flash memory) business. *
- Represented Entergy in connection with its acquisition of a power plant before the DOJ Antitrust Division. Successfully obtained clearance for the transaction following the DOJ’s Second Request investigation.
- Successfully represented an international machine tool manufacturer and technology services provider before the DOJ Antitrust Division in its acquisition of a competing machine tool manufacturer.
- Represented technology clients in successfully opposing Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner, which the parties ultimately abandoned.
*Matters handled at prior firm or company.
News & Publications
Antitrust & Competition Blog
January 24, 2024
By: Michael L. Weiner, John J. Kavanagh, Lee Berger, Travis West
Media Mentions
January 11, 2024
Antitrust & Competition Blog
DOJ/FTC Draft Merger Guidelines: More Second Requests and More Merger Litigation
July 20, 2023
By: Michael L. Weiner, Lee Berger, Douglas G. Green, John J. Kavanagh, Pantelis Michalopoulos
Client Alerts
February 10, 2023
Antitrust & Competition Blog
The FTC Updates Size of Transaction Thresholds and Filing Fees for Premerger Notification Filings
January 24, 2023
By: Michael L. Weiner, John J. Kavanagh, Lee Berger, Travis West
Client Alerts
FTC Issues Proposed Rules to Ban Noncompete Clauses and Takes Unprecedented Enforcement Action
January 10, 2023
Media Mentions
December 12, 2022
Events
Webinars
The Intersection of Antitrust and Regulation
April 18, 2018
Speakers: Douglas G. Green, Anthony J. LaRocca