The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

China Hits Qualcomm With Fine.  Qualcomm has agreed to pay a $975 million fine for violating China’s antimonopoly law.  As part of the deal, Qualcomm has also agreed to lower its royalty rates on patents used in China for high-speed wireless data, which will help smartphone makers in China.

Expedia to Buy Orbitz for $1.34 Billion to Take On Priceline.  Expedia seeks to acquire Orbitz for $1.34 billion, in an effort to reclaim the lead in global online travel bookings from Priceline, and fend off newer competitors such as Google.  Although the deal would reduce competition among online travel agents, Expedia hopes that antitrust regulators will not block it in light of increased competition from Google and others in the total U.S. travel sales market.

Mergers: Commission opens in-depth investigation into proposed acquisition by Siemens of rotating equipment manufacturer Dresser-Rand.  The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into whether the proposed acquisition of rotating equipment manufacturer Dresser-Rand of the U.S. by Siemens of Germany complies with EU merger regulations.  Both companies supply turbo compressors as well as the engines that drive those compressors.