Changes to Premerger Notification and Report Form Proposed
On Aug. 13, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission announced proposed modifications to the Premerger Notification and Report Form that companies must file under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act when seeking antitrust review of mergers valued in excess of the filing threshold (currently $63.4 million). The proposed changes are designed to streamline the form by eliminating requests for unnecessary information, and focusing on the information most needed by the antitrust agencies in their initial merger review.
The new form, however, will create additional disclosure obligations for some filers, including private equity and other types of investment funds, which may be materially burdensome. For example, there will be new reporting requirements regarding "unincorporated entities" and "associate" entities of the acquiring company. Public comments on the proposed changes will be accepted until Oct. 18, 2010.
New Horizontal Merger Guidelines Issued
On Aug. 19, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly issued new Horizontal Merger Guidelines. For additional information, please read our legal update on this topic.
Joint DOJ/USDA Workshop Focuses on Livestock Industries
On Aug. 27, 2010, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice held their fourth joint public workshop on competition and regulation in the agriculture sector. This workshop focused on issues in the livestock industry. Earlier workshops concentrated on grain farming and hog production, and the poultry and dairy industries. The final workshop in the series will be held later this year.
EU General Court Confirms Misuse of Regulatory Procedures May be Abuse of Dominant Position
In a case significant generally for large companies dealing with European regulators, the EU General Court upheld on appeal the principal points of a European Commission decision finding that AstraZeneca had misused the patent system and the procedures for marketing pharmaceutical products to prevent or delay the market entry of generic products which competed with its anti-ulcer drug Losec. Additional information is available in our August 2010 EU/UK Competition Law Newsletter.