by Stephen Wu

Earlier today, the FTC dismissed its complaint against LabCorp after failing to obtain a preliminary injunction in federal district court to prevent LabCorp from further integrating with WestCliff. 

LabCorp had acquired WestCliff, a bankrupt lab services competitor in Southern California, in 2010, but the FTC chose to challenge the transaction in front of one of its administrative law judges and had sought a preliminary injunction from a federal district court to prevent LabCorp from integrating WestCliff pending the outcome of the administrative trial. 

After losing its bid for a preliminary injunction at the district court, the FTC filed an emergency motion for an injunction pending an appeal that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied.  This meant that LabCorp was free to integrate WestCliff pending the outcome of any appeal of the denial of the preliminary injunction or the FTC’s related administrative trial on the merits of the acquisition.

The FTC’s press release can be found at:  https://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/04/labcorp.shtm.