February 2008 :: Antitrust Lawyer Blog
Squeezed On: February 25, 2008

DOJ REQUIRES DIVESTITURE IN UNITEDHEALTH GROUP'S ACQUISITION OF SIERRA HEALTH SERVICES

On February 25, 2008, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (“United”) and Sierra Health Services Inc. (“Sierra”) entered into a settlement agreement that required United to divest assets relating to United's Medicare Advantage business in the Las Vegas area in order to proceed with United's acquisition of Sierra. Allegedly, the transaction, as originally proposed, would have created a combined company controlling 94 percent of the Medicare Advantage health insurance market in the Las Vegas area and resulted in higher prices, fewer choices, and a reduction in the quality of Medicare Advantage plans purchased by senior citizens in the Las Vegas area.

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Squeezed On: February 19, 2008

DOJ REQUIRES THOMSON TO SELL FINANCIAL DATA AND RELATED ASSETS IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE REUTERS

On February 19, 2008, the Antitrust Division entered into a settlement agreement requiring The Thomson Corporation (“Thomson”) to sell financial data and related assets in three markets for financial data in order to proceed with Thomson's proposed $17 billion acquisition of Reuters Group PLC (“Reuters”).

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Squeezed On: February 13, 2008

FTC SUES FOR UNLAWFULLY BLOCKING SALE OF LOWER-COST GENERIC VERSIONS OF BRANDED-DRUG

On February 13, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal district court against Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company Cephalon. The complaint charged that Cephalon engaged in a course of anticompetitive conduct that is preventing competition to its branded drug – Provigil. In 2007, U.S. sales of Provigil totaled more than $800 million and accounted for over 46% of Cephalon’s total sales. Based on such figures, the FTC alleged, it was obvious why Cephalon considered the prospect of generic drug competition to be a serious threat to its profitability.

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Squeezed On: February 13, 2008

DOJ REQUIRES DIVESTITURES IN CLEAR CHANNEL

On February 13, 2008, the DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with Clear Channel, the largest operator of radio stations in the United States, to divest radio stations in four cities in order for a group of private equity investors led by Bain Capital (“Bain”) and Thomas H. Lee Partners (“THL”) to proceed with their acquisition of a controlling interest in Clear Channel. The divestitures were required to assure continued competition in markets where the transaction would otherwise result in a significant loss of competition.

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Squeezed On: February 6, 2008

SCRAP METAL COMPANY AND OWNER INDICTED

On February 6, 2008, Ohio-based Alliance National Limited Partnership, which does business as DeMilta Iron & Metal Ltd. (“DeMilta Iron”), and its owner, Francis DeMilta, were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to allocate scrap metal suppliers in Northeast Ohio.

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