Antitrust/Competition Merger Review
We get deals cleared. Our team includes former senior government officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Commission (EC), and our deep understanding of the competition authorities and frequent dealings with them give us the insight, experience and credibility to secure cost-effective worldwide approval of transactions. Because of our expertise and track record in merger clearance, we often serve as "hired guns" for the antitrust work even when our clients turn to other firms for M&A counsel. We supplement our extensive bench of competition attorneys who practice before the US, UK, German, and Belgian competition authorities with an informal network of leading antitrust specialists from more than 40 key jurisdictions, enabling us to provide a "one-stop shop" experience for our clients.
Deeper Understanding of Global Competition Authorities:Our antitrust attorneys have held significant senior leadership positions in the FTC, the DOJ Antitrust Division, and the European Commission.
A Team Built to Handle the Toughest Transactions: Our team has been entrusted with our clients' most challenging mergers — 40 transactions valued at more than $1 billion and 32 in-depth merger investigations in the last three years alone.
Hired Gun: Even when using other firms for deal negotiation, companies regularly turn to Arnold & Porter for antitrust advice. Last year alone, we were retained as the specialist antitrust firm in more than 60 transactions.
Experience Highlights
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Sony in its $3.6 billion acquisition of games software developer Bungie.
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Abbvie in its $63 billion acquisition of Allergan, the manufacturer of the well-known medication Botox. The Wall Street Journal reported that this was one of the biggest mergers in the healthcare sector in the year it was announced.
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AT&T Inc. in its successful $85.4 billion stock-and-cash acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Arnold & Porter successfully defended this first vertical merger trial and appeal in decades.
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Bristol-Myers Squibb in numerous transactions including its $90 billion acquisition of Celgene.
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Fitbit in its $2.1 billion sale to Google.
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Monsanto Company in obtaining US and EU competition clearances in connection with the company's $66 billion acquisition by Bayer, as well as coordinating antitrust/competition approvals in almost 30 other jurisdictions worldwide.
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General Electric in obtaining antitrust clearance in the US and Europe for the company's €12.35 billion acquisition of Alstom.
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Boston Scientific, as lead worldwide antitrust counsel, in its $4.2 billion acquisition of BTG plc, subject to the UK takeover code, and its related divestiture of microspheres business to Varian Medical Systems.
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Adobe in obtaining clearance regarding the company's $4.75 billion acquisition of Marketo, the leading marketing cloud platform for B2B marketing engagement.
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Pfizer in its $12 billion combination of Upjohn with Mylan and in its $6.7 billion acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals.
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Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $21 billion Acquisition of PPD.
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BP, as lead worldwide antitrust counsel, in securing FTC clearance of its $5.6 billion sale of BP's entire business in Alaska, including all of its upstream and midstream businesses in the state, to Hilcorp, the largest private operator in Alaska.
