Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Commission issued an administrative complaint challenging Carilion Clinic’s 2008 acquisition of two competing outpatient clinics in the Roanoke, Virginia, area. The complaint alleges that Carilion’s acquisition of these outpatient centers eliminated competition for patients in the Roanoke area.  On October 7, 2009 Carillion agreed to sell two independent outpatient medical clinics it acquired last year to settle the charges.

Solvay settled antitrust concerns stemming from its proposed acquisition of Ausimont S.p.A. from Italenergia S.p.A., and agreed to divest its U.S. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) operations and its interest in Alventia LLC, a joint venture which manufactures the main raw material for PVDF. According to the complaint, the proposed acquisition would lessen competition in two markets: the production and sale of all grades of PVDF; and the production and sale of melt-processible grades of PVDF.

U-Haul International, Inc. and its parent company settled FTC charges that they violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by inviting U-Haul’s closest competitor, Avis Budget Group, Inc., to collude on prices for truck rentals. U-Haul and Budget control more than 70 percent of the “do-it-yourself” one-way truck rental business in the United States. The FTC’s complaint alleges that on several occasions between 2006 and 2008, U-Haul tried to increase rates for one-way truck rentals by privately and publicly communicating with Budget, the second-largest truck rental company in the United States. The proposed settlement order against U-Haul and its parent company AMERCO bars them from inviting a competitor to divide markets, allocate customers, or fix prices, as well as participating in, maintaining, organizing, implementing, enforcing, offering, or soliciting any other company to engage in such conduct.