Information Sharing by Competitors: Minimizing Antitrust Liability
Avoiding Gun-Jumping in Mergers and Competitor Collaborations
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar/teleconference with Q&A
Conducted on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Recorded event now available
This CLE webinar will provide guidance for practitioners on antitrust violations that can arise when competitors share information either related to a joint venture or when considering a merger. The panel will offer insights and guidance from a recent federal court ruling and government enforcement activity.
Description
The substance and extent of information that can be shared between competitors is an area of continuing antitrust concern for businesses. Mergers and other transactions, as well as ordinary business activities, trigger antitrust issues regarding benchmarking and standard setting.
The family of merger issues is commonly referred to as gun-jumping. In Jan. 2011, the Seventh Circuit provided guidance for information sharing during corporate merger due diligence. A recent FTC consent decree suggests heightened antitrust scrutiny for information sharing by competitors.
Non-merger issues have also seen recent activity. Earlier this year the FTC challenged Section 5 agreements and information exchanges among three competitors, precipitating administrative litigation and one consent decree: In the Matter of Sigma Corp. (FTC Consent Agreement Jan. 4. 2012).
Listen as our authoritative panel of antitrust attorneys examines information sharing in both mergers and non-mergers, traps to avoid, lessons learned, and guidance from court and agency actions. The panel will outline best practices for competitor businesses to avoid violating antitrust laws and regulations.
Outline
- Information sharing in the pre-merger context: avoiding gun-jumping
- Omnicare v. UnitedHealth Group (7th Cir. 2011)
- Lessons learned from recent enforcement actions
- Specific applications: during due diligence and transition planning; joint marketing; transaction documentation; meetings of executives
- Guidelines and best practices
- Information sharing among competitors
- Overview of applicable law
- Recent enforcement and private actions
- Risks of competitive information exchanges
- Specific applications: benchmarking, trade associations and standard setting
- Guidelines and best practices
- In the Matter of Sigma Corp. (FTC Consent Agreement Jan. 4, 2012)
- Roundtable discussion
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- What are the key activities that merging parties and competitive collaborators should avoid?
- What guidance do recent court decisions provide for competitor ventures?
- What safeguards should companies implement to prevent sharing information that will violate antitrust law?
Faculty
William Blumenthal,
Partner
Clifford Chance, Washington, D.C.
He chairs the firm’s U.S. Antitrust Group and advises clients on all aspects of antitrust law, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, horizontal and vertical restraints, monopolization, predatory pricing, distribution agreements and consumer protection issues. Prior to joining Clifford Chance, he served as General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission.
Robert Schlossberg,
Partner
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Washington, D.C.
He represents clients on antitrust matters with a particular emphasis on practice before the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. He has considerable experience with antitrust issues in mergers and acquisitions and has guided scores of national and international transactions through antitrust review to a successful conclusion.
Joseph G. Krauss,
Partner
Hogan Lovells, Washington, D.C.
His practice is focused on antitrust and economic regulation, with a particular emphasis on merger and acquisition counseling and litigation in all industries, and before federal, state, and foreign antitrust authorities. He counsels clients in matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution issues, Sherman Act, and Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance.
Ordering
Online CLE - Audio Recording
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CLE:
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Includes full event recording plus handouts (available after live seminar).
CLE: Pre-approved for self-study credit in: AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, MO, MT, NY, TX*, VT, WA, WV. Upon request, self-study credit is also available in: CO, FL, GA, ID, KY, ME, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OR, UT, WI, WY. If you are applying for self-study credit in one of these states, contact Strafford CLE at 1-800-926-7926 ext. 35 or CLE@straffordpub.com. (*Indicates that Strafford needs to process the CLE — see below to purchase this option.)
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Available ten business days after the live event
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Program Materials
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Program Materials
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Customer Reviews
The real case examples and case citations were very helpful.
Tyler Wilkinson
Axley Brynelson, LLP
The seminar provided great examples to correspond with the subject matter.
Susan Gray
Hanesbrands Inc. - Law Dept.
We were given simple and clear answers to complex questions, lots to work with.
Patrick R. Kelly
Glenn, Feldmann, Darby & Goodlatte
I liked the practicality and thoroughness of the presentation and the handouts.
Barry Jasilli
CVS Caremark
Cutting edge information from people who are in the field.
John McGowan
Donahue Tucker & Ciandella
Antitrust Law Advisory Board
Partner
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Partner
Fenwick & West
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig
Partner
Foley & Lardner
Partner
Mayer Brown
Shareholder
Briggs and Morgan
Partner
Hogan Lovells
Partner
Jones Day
Partner
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Partner
Kaye Scholer
Partner
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
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