Showing archive for: “Mergers & Merger Enforcement”
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Settlement
In American antitrust, clearing the federal gate increasingly means arriving at the state turnstiles. State attorneys general play a valuable role when harms are local or federal investigators miss key facts. But serial challenges to nationally integrated conduct turn that safeguard into a standing invitation to relitigate. The result is a system in which no ... Too Many Cooks Spoil the Settlement
Killer Theories and Acqui-Hire Alibis
Antitrust agencies have a habit of giving new labels to old anxieties. In artificial intelligence, the latest worry is that partnerships between large technology firms and startups are not partnerships at all, but mergers in clever disguises. In the first article in this series, we examined how Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has ... Killer Theories and Acqui-Hire Alibis
Brazil Catches the Acqui-Hire Wave
The global antitrust wave over Big Tech’s artificial intelligence deals has reached Brazil. The question is whether Brazil’s competition authority is paddling into a real breaker—or mistaking regulatory chop for a swell. Last month, Brazil’s antitrust authority, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), entered that debate. It issued part of its long-awaited decisions on ... Brazil Catches the Acqui-Hire Wave
The FTC’s Sunk-Cost Social Network
The first rule of holes is supposed to be: stop digging. The sunk-cost fallacy is realized when we keep digging anyway—and then call it resolve. We—people—often have a hard time letting a bad thing go. That’s true even for those who are well acquainted with the sunk-cost fallacy and should know better. I’ve been there. ... The FTC’s Sunk-Cost Social Network
In Space, No One Can See Your HHI
Two rocket companies walk into an antitrust review. They leave as a de facto monopoly. And somehow, the punchline may be that this was good for consumers, taxpayers, and maybe even competition. A little context. In 2006, Boeing and Lockheed Martin combined their launch divisions into a joint venture called United Launch Alliance (ULA). That’s ... In Space, No One Can See Your HHI
Antitrust at the Agencies: National Nanny Hangover Edition
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rulemaking machinery is humming again. Is it being tuned for optimal performance—or revved for another trip into the ditch? Most of the current action has to do with consumer protection. That’s par for the course, really. Apart from issuing the ill-fated noncompete rule, since vacated—comments here if anyone wants a ... Antitrust at the Agencies: National Nanny Hangover Edition
Don’t Freeze the AI Race at the Starting Line
Regulators keep warning that AI markets are about to be captured by Big Tech. The awkward fact is that AI markets keep refusing to cooperate. Several years into the generative-AI boom, the sector still looks less like a coronation than a street fight: OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and others are battling ... Don’t Freeze the AI Race at the Starting Line
When Antitrust Meets National Security and Gets It Right
For months, the antitrust bar has focused on Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed merger with Juniper Networks. Critics—including several state attorneys general—argue that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approved a modified deal for political reasons, rather than on the merits of the antitrust and national security analysis. Ongoing Tunney Act proceedings tell a different story. ... When Antitrust Meets National Security and Gets It Right
Keeping Titans in Quarantine
Antitrust law once imposed a simple rule on dominant firms: stay in your lane. That idea fell out of favor. Unfortunately, its logic did not. The clearest example comes from midcentury enforcement. In 1956, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) imposed a sweeping antitrust remedy on AT&T. The DOJ consent decree required AT&T’s research arm, ... Keeping Titans in Quarantine
Antitrust at the Agencies: Vacaturs and Vacancies Edition
Gail Slater has left the building. And that’s a shame, I think. On Feb. 12, Slater posted the following on X: It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today. It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role. Huge thanks to ... Antitrust at the Agencies: Vacaturs and Vacancies Edition
Canada’s Merger Guidelines: Size on Trial
Canada is on the verge of hard-coding costly mistakes into its merger policy. The Competition Bureau’s proposed merger guidelines aim to translate Parliament’s recent overhaul of the Competition Act into enforcement practice. The draft instead risks entrenching a merger regime that treats market structure as destiny, discounts consumer-benefiting efficiencies, and substitutes blunt presumptions for evidence ... Canada’s Merger Guidelines: Size on Trial
The Right Approach to Reviewing Netflix-Warner Bros
Ahead of tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, a group of former federal antitrust enforcers sent an open letter to the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and the full Judiciary Committee urging a consumer-welfare-focused review of the proposed Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The letter rejects the progressive analytical framework advanced during the prior administration and calls ... The Right Approach to Reviewing Netflix-Warner Bros
