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New Developments in French Competition Law Pose Risk of Ex-Post Challenge to Non-Notifiable Transactions

by Frédéric Pradelles, Stéphane Dionnet and Mary Hecht | Jun 5, 2024 | Agriculture, EC Developments, EU Developments, French Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions

In a significant development for French merger control, on May 2, 2024, the French Competition Authority (FCA) applied the jurisprudence laid down in the recent Towercast case to an alleged anticompetitive agreement matter in the meat-cutting sector.

In its Towercast ruling (C-449/21), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that a merger which is not notifiable (i.e., being below the European and national merger control thresholds) and which has not been subject to a referral under Article 22 of the Merger Regulation 139/2004 of 2004 may be challenged a posteriori by the European Commission or a national competition authority if an abuse of dominant position resulting from the merger but detachable from it can be established.

Less than a week after the Towercast ruling, the Belgian Competition Authority applied the principles set out by the CJEU by opening an ex officio investigation into the acquisition of the edpnet group by Proximus, ordering interim measures in June 2023 to ensure the continuity of edpnet’s activities and its operational and commercial independence from Proximus, ultimately leading to the sale of edpnet’s activities post-closing in November 2023. The president of the FCA, Benoît Cœuré, said that this instrument could “now be used, bearing in mind that its conditions of use are restrictive”. This has now been confirmed by the FCA’s May 2 decision, on which Cœuré said was an “important clarification for merger control”, particularly regarding Article 101 TFEU.

Heard at the 2024 Antitrust Law Section Spring Meeting: Part II

by Lisa P. Rumin, Anthony S. Ferrara, Reese Poncia, Noah Feldman Greene, Zachary Sproull, Han Cui, Graham Hyman, Glenna Siegel, Alex Grayson, Betty Zhang and Gregory E. Heltzer | Apr 12, 2024 | Agriculture, DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance

The American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s annual Spring Meeting concluded on April 12. The annual Spring Meeting featured updates from federal, state and international antitrust enforcers and extensive discussion on priority antitrust issues affecting various industries. In this article, we highlight takeaways from the final two days of the Spring Meeting.

Cartel Corner | August 2022

by Justin P. Murphy, Paul M. Thompson, Han Cui, Alexandra Lewis and Reese Poncia | Aug 31, 2022 | Agriculture, Cartel Enforcement, Consumer Protection/Privacy, DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance

Without question, 2022 has been a remarkably busy time for the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division (Division). Over just a few months, the Division rolled out meaningful revisions to its leniency policy aimed at encouraging prompt reporting of criminal violations, announced that it will (for the first time in nearly 50 years) bring criminal monopolization cases under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, continued to increase enforcement resources, and brought a number of new cases and obtained multiple guilty pleas.

However, activity does not always mean success. If there is any theme that defines the Division’s efforts over the last quarter, it is this: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That is exactly what the Division has done. It tried two labor markets cases, ultimately losing both on a new and untested legal theory. And, over strong objections from a district court, the Division pursued an unprecedented third trial against those in the broiler chicken industry, resulting in a full acquittal for all defendants. None of this, however, has deterred the Division from continuing to pursue new investigations and bring new cases under novel legal theories.

In this installment of Cartel Corner, we examine recent and significant developments in antitrust criminal enforcement and profile what the Division has highlighted as its key enforcement priorities. If the past is prologue, we are bound to see more aggressive antitrust enforcement in the months to come, testing the boundaries of current antitrust law. Whether the Division can ultimately shift those boundaries, however, remains to be seen.

Access the full report.

Cartel Corner | March 2022

by Justin P. Murphy, Paul M. Thompson, Han Cui, Joshua W. Eastby, Anthony S. Ferrara, Alexandra Lewis and Reese Poncia | Mar 21, 2022 | Agriculture, Cartel Enforcement, Consumer Protection/Privacy, DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance

The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (Division) has continued to actively investigate and pursue alleged criminal violations of antitrust laws and collusive activity in government procurement. US Attorney General Merrick Garland noted in a March 2022 speech at the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime that the Division ended last fiscal year “with 146 open grand jury investigations—the most in 30 years.” As we near the end of the first quarter of 2022, the Division has a record number of criminal cases either in trial or awaiting trial.

In this installment of Cartel Corner, we examine and review recent and significant developments in antitrust criminal enforcement and profile what the Division has highlighted as its key priorities for enforcement. For 2022 and beyond, those priorities are—and likely will remain—identifying and aggressively pursuing alleged violations involving the labor markets, consumer products, government procurement, and the generic pharmaceutical industry.

Access the full report.

Recent Treasury Department Report Emphasizes Fostering Competition in Labor Markets

by Joshua W. Eastby and Stephen Wu | Mar 15, 2022 | Agriculture, Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Joint Ventures/Competitor Collaboration, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance

Continuing the recent string of actions across the Biden administration in response to the July 2021 Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” on March 7, 2022, the US Treasury Department (Treasury) released a report titled “The State of Labor Market Competition,” and on March 10, 2022, the US Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Labor (DOL) announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen and coordinate enforcement efforts in labor markets. These developments highlight the administration’s continuing focus on anticompetitive conduct in the labor markets at both the local and national levels and warrant careful attention by employers of all sizes and in all industries.

Treasury Report In Depth

Treasury’s report sets out to “summarize the prevalence and impact of uncompetitive firm behavior in labor markets.”
It focuses on both inter-employer conduct—such as the sharing of wage information, entering into no-poach agreements and outright conspiracies to fix wages—and employer-employee conduct—like forcing workers to sign non-compete agreements, mandatory arbitration agreements and class action waivers, misclassification of employees as independent contractors and opacity surrounding employees’ compensation rates—as being potentially anticompetitive and contributing to the imbalance of power between employers and employees in labor markets.
The structures of various labor markets, including overall low rates of unionization, “fissuring” of workplaces as a wide variety of job functions (e.g., janitorial or food services) are outsourced from in-house employees to external contractors, and occupational licensing requirements imposed by federal, state, and/or local governments, are highlighted as having overall negative effects on the competitiveness of various labor markets.
The report estimates that employers’ market power is responsible for approximately 20% lower wages compared to a fully competitive labor market, and notes that the harms that flow from a lack of labor market competition disproportionately impact lower-income occupations, women and people of color.
The report concludes by emphasizing that adverse effects on workers as a result of limited competition in labor markets have broader effects on the labor markets, the firms that participate in them and the economy as a whole.
Finally, the report specifically examines the labor markets in the healthcare, agricultural and minor-league baseball industries, and it outlines the Biden administration’s efforts to increase competition and deter and punish anticompetitive conduct in labor markets across the country.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

The DOJ and DOL’s MOU likewise emphasizes the shared “interest in protecting workers who have been harmed or may be at risk of being harmed as a result of anticompetitive conduct,” as Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter noted in the joint press release announcing the MOU, “[p]rotecting the right of workers to earn a fair wage is core to the work of both our agencies, and it will continue to receive extraordinary vigilance from the Antitrust Division.”
The MOU states the DOJ’s and DOL’s intent to “share enforcement information, collaborate on new policies, and ensure that workers are protected from collusion and unlawful employer behavior.”

Antitrust M&A Snapshot | Q2 2021

by Graham Hyman, Karolien Van der Putten, Jon B. Dubrow, Joel R. Grosberg and Lisa P. Rumin | Aug 6, 2021 | Agriculture, DOJ Developments, EC Developments, EU Developments, FTC Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions

In the United States, aggressive antitrust enforcement is likely to continue with the appointment of Lina Khan as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair and the nomination of Jonathan Kanter to lead the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division. The premerger notification landscape continues to shift as filings reach another record high. Technology companies remain in the “hot seat” as legislators in the US House of Representatives introduced five antitrust reform bills that would change the enforcement landscape for digital platforms, including seeking to preclude large digital platform companies from acquiring smaller, nascent competitors. And the US Department of Justice is making good on President Biden’s pledge to regulate “Big Ag” by challenging Zen-Noh Grain Corporation’s proposed acquisition of 38 grain elevators from Bunge North America, Inc.

Meanwhile, in Q1 2021, the European Commission (Commission) published its Guidance on Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation. The Guidance encourages the EU Member States to refer certain transactions to the Commission even if the transaction is not notifiable under the laws of the referring Member State(s). In Q2, not long after the issuance of the Guidance, the Commission received its first referral request to assess the proposed acquisition of GRAIL by Illumina. In light of the growing global debate on the need for more effective merger control, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager confirmed that the Commission will not soften EU merger policy going forward. The Commission’s statement was made despite the fact no deals have been blocked by the Commission in about the last two years.

Access the full issue.

THE LATEST: FTC Settles with Breeder Trade Association over Association Rules That Limited Price Competition for Dairy Bull Semen

by Gregory E. Heltzer and Katharine M. O'Connor | Aug 24, 2017 | Agriculture, FTC Developments, Joint Ventures/Competitor Collaboration

The two current commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved another final order and consent agreement with a trade association, this time with the National Association of Animal Breeders, Inc. (NAAB).

WHAT HAPPENED:

NAAB is a non-profit corporation of approximately 24 member businesses that compete to sell dairy cattle semen to US dairy farms for artificial insemination of dairy cows. Together, the NAAB membership accounts for more than 90 percent of sales to US farms.

In 2006, NAAB entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop genomic testing of dairy bulls to predict a bull’s ability to pass along commercially important traits to its daughters, like high milk yield.

The new technology, called Genomic Predicted Transmitting Ability (GPTA) was developed by mid-2008.

In late 2008, NAAB implemented rules limiting access to the GPTA technology. Specifically, (1) only a NAAB member could obtain a dairy bull’s GPTA; and (2) the NAAB member obtaining a GPTA must have some ownership interest in the dairy bull.

(more…)

THE LATEST: Entanglements and Concentrated Markets Require Divestiture in the Dairy Industry

by McDermott Will & Emery and Mary Strimel | Apr 13, 2017 | Agriculture, DOJ Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions

On July 6, 2016, Danone S.A. (Danone) agreed to acquire The WhiteWave Foods Company (WhiteWave) for $12.5 billion.

WhiteWave is the leading manufacturer of fluid organic milk in the United States and one of the top purchasers of raw organic milk. Danone is the leading US manufacturer of organic yogurt (Stonyfield). Nearly 90 percent of the raw organic milk used by Danone to manufacture organic yogurt is supplied via a strategic agreement by CROPP Cooperative (CROPP). As of 2009, the strategic supply agreement between Danone and CROPP also includes Danone providing CROPP with an exclusive license for the production and sale of Stonyfield branded fluid organic milk.

WhiteWave and CROPP are the two largest purchasers and top competitors for purchasing raw organic milk from farmers in the Northeast US. Additionally, WhiteWave, CROPP and Danone-CROPP are the only nationwide competitors for the sale of fluid organic milk to retailers and have a 91 percent share of nationwide branded fluid organic milk: Horizon (WhiteWave), Organic Valley (CROPP) and Stonyfield (Danone-CROPP). (more…)

THE LATEST: Further Efforts to Broaden the Scope and Impact for CFIUS Reviews of Foreign Acquisitions of US Businesses

by David Levine and Mary Strimel | Mar 17, 2017 | Agriculture, Mergers & Acquisitions

We reported earlier on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and its legal and practical authority to review M&A transactions for possible risks to US national security posed by foreign ownership of a US business. Sens. Cornyn (R-TX) and Schumer (D-NY) reportedly are working separately on legislation to strengthen CFIUS, which could directly affect some cross-border M&A. Sen. Cornyn’s proposed changes to CFIUS would target Chinese technology investments while Sen. Schumer’s bill would encourage CFIUS to look at economic implications as part of its review. These legislative efforts follow a bipartisan Congressional request in late Fall 2016 for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to update its periodic analysis of CFIUS, urging the GAO to evaluate the possible expansion of factors considered by CFIUS in its M&A reviews to cover investment reciprocity and net economic benefits.

WHAT HAPPENED:

Now Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced legislation that would add the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services as voting members of CFIUS. The bill would also direct CFIUS to consider matters of food security, access and safety when it reviews overseas acquisitions of US firms.

Though CFIUS may already consider food security as an element of national security, the new proposal would at a minimum enhance this factor. Stabenow said in a statement introducing the bill, “As foreign entities continue their aggressive acquisitions of US food and agriculture companies, it’s imperative that these transactions face additional scrutiny.”

WHAT THIS MEANS:

More broadly, the bipartisan legislative activity suggests an increased likelihood that CFIUS reform will gain traction in the Congress. Further support for broadening the scope and force of CFIUS may come from the Trump Administration, which would be consistent with its “America first” trade policy.

Any businesses with planned or pending cross-border M&A activity in the US, including those in the agribusiness sector, should monitor these developments.

Mushroom Growers Denied Capper-Volstead Antitrust Immunity

by McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 22, 2014 | Agriculture, Private Litigation

On October 14, 2014, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a motion for reconsideration brought by members and affiliates of the former Eastern Mushroom Marketing Cooperative (EMMC). In re Mushroom Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litig., No. 06-0620 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 14, 2014). In 2009, the court denied defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment, which argued that defendants were immune from antitrust liability as members of an agricultural cooperative under the Capper-Volstead Act, 7 U.S.C. § 291. The court gave two reasons for denying the motion: (1) the EMMC allegedly conspired with entities that were not engaged in agricultural production and (2) non-grower M. Cutone’s membership in the cooperative destroyed Capper-Volstead immunity. Defendants moved for reconsideration in light of intervening authority from the Supreme Court in American Needle Inc. v. Nat’l Football League, 560 U.S. 783 (2010), and the Third Circuit in Deutscher Tennis Bund v. APT Tour, Inc., 610 F.3d 820 (3d Cir. 2010).

Defendants argued that, under American Needle, an unlawful conspiracy could not exist between an EMMC grower member and its affiliated distributor. The court analyzed American Needle and emphasized that “substance, not form, should determine whether a[n] . . . entity is capable of conspiring under § 1 [of the Sherman Act].” Mushroom, No. 06-0620 at 6 (quoting American Needle, 560 U.S. at 195). The court held that its prior conclusion that member Kaolin/South Mill and its distribution centers were not a single entity was undisturbed by American Needle. That the entities were “separate decision makers pursuing separate economic interests” was strongly evidenced, in the court’s eyes, by litigation that had occurred between the entities. Mushroom, No. 06-0620 at 9.

Defendants also argued that participation in the cooperative by M. Cutone, a non-grower affiliate of grower-member M&V Enterprises, was protected under Capper-Volstead under the same rationale behind the intra-enterprise conspiracy doctrine discussed in American Needle. The court held that this argument “misconstrue[d] the nature of the single entity defense. . . . Merely because two parties are considered to be a single entity for the purpose of a conspiracy claim under American Needle does not require that they be similarly considered in order to determine whether the cooperative’s membership included non-growers.” Mushroom, No. 06-0620 at 12. Therefore, M. Cutone’s “power to participate in the control and policy making of the association through voting . . . destroyed the availability of Capper-Volstead immunity for the cooperative.” Id. at 11-12 (internal quotation marks omitted).

The court certified both issues for interlocutory review under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), as well as the question of whether a cooperative member’s good faith reliance on the advice of counsel can shield it from antitrust liability. It remains to be seen whether the Third Circuit will take up the appeal.

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