Expert Analysis

• A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far

  

  The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.

• Plan For Increased HSR Info Sharing With Wash. Antitrust Law

  

  Washington's merger notification requirements, effective later this month, combined with the Federal Trade Commission's new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act rules, will result in greater information sharing among state and federal agencies, making it important for merging parties to consider their transaction's potential state antitrust implications early on, say attorneys at McDermott.

• Spinoff Transaction Considerations For Biotech M&A

  

  Amid current market challenges, boards and management teams of biotech companies can consider several strategies for maximizing value should a spinoff opportunity arise, but not without significant advance planning and careful implementation, particularly in cases that might qualify as tax-free, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• How Ore. Law Puts New Confines On Corp. Health Ownership

  

  A newly enacted law in Oregon strengthens the state’s restrictions on corporate ownership of healthcare practices, with new limitations on overlapping control, permissible services, restrictive covenants and more making it necessary for practices to review decades-old physician practice arrangements, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Trump Antitrust Shift Eases Pressure On Private Equity Deals

  

  Enforcement actions and statements by Trump administration antitrust officials forecast a shift away from specifically targeting private equity activity, which should be welcome news to dealmakers, but firms shouldn't expect to escape traditional antitrust scrutiny, says Nathaniel Bronstein at Fried Frank.

• How Trump Administration's Antitrust Agenda Is Playing Out

  

  Under the current antitrust agency leadership, the latest course in merger enforcement, regulatory approach and key sectors shows a marked shift from Biden-era practices and includes a return to remedies and the commitment to remain focused on the bounds of U.S. law, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

• Why Texas Should Slow Down On Healthcare Merger Bills

  

  More time is needed to study three Texas bills aimed at considering the effects of healthcare consolidation to increase affordability and access to healthcare, which could have the opposite effect, say John Saran and Harshita Rathore at Holland & Knight and Robbie Allen at U.S. Heart and Vascular.

• Navigating The Expanding Frontier Of Premerger Notice Laws

  

  Washington's newly enacted law requiring premerger notification to state enforcers builds upon a growing trend of state scrutiny into transactions in the healthcare sector and beyond, and may inspire other states to enact similar legislation, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• Issues To Watch At ABA's Antitrust Spring Meeting

  

  Attorneys at Freshfields consider the future of antitrust law and competition enforcement amid agency leadership changes and other emerging developments likely to dominate discussion at the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week.

• Reviewing Calif. Push To Restrict Private Equity In Healthcare

  

  A recent proposed bill in California aims to broaden the state's existing corporate practice of medicine restrictions, so investors must ensure that there is clear delineation between private equity investment in practice management and physicians' clinical decision-making, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• China High Court Ruling Could Encourage Antitrust Litigation

  

  Practitioners defending U.S. companies in China should take note of a Chinese Supreme Court ruling that plaintiffs can file suits based on either where the alleged action, or where the result of such action, occurred — which will promote civil litigation by minimizing procedural battles over forum selection, says Yang Yang at Leaqual Law Firm.

• Recent Cases Clarify FCA Kickback Pleading Standards

  

  Two recently resolved cases involving pharmaceutical manufacturers may make it more difficult for False Claims Act defendants facing kickback scheme allegations to get claims dismissed for lack of evidence, say Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz, Ellen London at London & Noar, and Gregg Shapiro at Gregg Shapiro Law.

• Antitrust Analysis In Iowa Pathologist Case Misses The Mark

  

  An Iowa federal court erred in its recent decision in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates by focusing exclusively on market impacts and sidestepping key questions that should be central to antitrust standing analysis, says Daniel Graulich at Baker McKenzie.