Tag: Merger

FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera issued a following statement in response to the announcement that Platinum Equity and its portfolio company, PlayPower, abandoned the proposed acquisition of BCI Burke.

The FTC has taken steps to preserve competition in the digital advertising ecosystem by requiring Publicis Groupe S.A. to continue providing neutral and nondiscriminatory access to LiveRamp Holdings Inc.’s products and services, and to establish firewalls to prevent Publicis from accessing LiveRamp’s customer data, in order to complete Publicis’s acquisition of the company.

The Federal Trade Commission and a group of seven state enforcers filed a complaint in federal district court against Vyera Pharmaceuticals, LLC, alleging an elaborate anticompetitive scheme to preserve a monopoly for the life-saving drug, Daraprim. The Commission vote to issue the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed on Jan. 27, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In a Jan. 14, 2022 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote found Shkreli’s conduct “egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running, and ultimately dangerous.” Judge Cote banned Shkreli for life from the pharmaceutical industry.

On January 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s ruling.

On October 13, 2026, the FTC and seven states asked a federal judge to hold “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli in contempt based on their allegations that he flagrantly and repeatedly violated a 2022 court order that banned him from the pharmaceutical industry.

The Federal Trade Commission secured $12 million in penalties to settle charges alleging that Edwards Lifesciences Corp. acquired medical device maker JC Medical from Genesis MedTech Group Limited without complying with the notification and waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR).

Under the terms of a proposed final judgment Edwards, including former Genesis subsidiary JC Medical, will pay a $10 million penalty. Genesis will pay a $2 million penalty. Edwards will also be subject to additional terms including prior notice requirements. The combined $12 million penalty is the largest ever for failing to make an HSR filing.