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Number of Ongoing Antitrust Merger Lawsuits Increases to Five Following DOJ Lawsuit to Enjoin Newspaper Merger
Practical Law Legal Update w-001-6444 (Approx. 3 pages)
Number of Ongoing Antitrust Merger Lawsuits Increases to Five Following DOJ Lawsuit to Enjoin Newspaper Merger
by Practical Law Antitrust
| Published on 18 Mar 2016 • USA (National/Federal) |
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to block the publisher of the Los Angeles Times from buying Freedom Communications Inc., a publisher of two newspapers in southern California. This litigation is the fifth outstanding antitrust merger lawsuit, joining four brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
On March 17, 2016, the DOJ sued to block Tribune Publishing Company, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, from buying Freedom Communications Inc., a publisher of two newspapers in southern California. Tribune was selected to buy Freedom's newspapers through a bankruptcy auction and will seek approval from the bankruptcy court on March 21, 2016.
The DOJ argues that the acquisition would give the merged newspapers a monopoly over newspaper sales in the two relevant counties, allowing Tribune to:
- Increase subscription prices.
- Raise advertising rates.
- Invest less to maintain the quality of its newspapers.
This lawsuit joins four pending lawsuits brought by the FTC, which involve:
- Three hospital mergers (see Legal Update, FTC Challenges Third Hospital Merger in Two Months).
- Staples, Inc.'s acquisition of Office Depot, Inc.
The last lawsuit brought by the DOJ seeking to enjoin a merger resulted in the parties abandoning the deal (see What's Market, U.S. v. AB Electrolux, Electrolux North America, Inc., and General Electric Company (litigated case).)