The Antitrust Week In Review

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

Judge Halts Sysco’s Proposed Merger With US Foods.  A federal judge has ordered a preliminary injunction to block Sysco’s proposed merger with US Foods, dealing a potentially fatal blow to what would be a union of the two biggest food distribution companies in the United States.  The injunction is a victory for the Federal Trade Commission, which sued in February to block the deal on the grounds that it would lead to higher prices and worse service for customers like restaurants and schools.

Anthem confident, but experts see antitrust hurdles to Cigna deal.  U.S. health insurer Anthem is dismissing concerns that buying smaller competitor Cigna would be considered anticompetitive, despite the view of antitrust experts that the combination would earn regulatory scrutiny.  Any merger could require asset sales and would be complicated by potential deals among other insurers.

Getty Images takes Google grievance to EU antitrust regulators.  Getty Images has become the latest company to take its grievances with Google to European Union antitrust regulators as it accused the world’s largest Internet search engine of favoring its own images service at the expense of rivals.  The complaint comes as the European Commission waits for Google to respond to charges of abusing its market power in a dozen EU countries since 2007 by distorting search results to favor its shopping service.

U.S. gov’t settles antitrust charges with three Michigan hospitals.  Although three Michigan hospital systems have settled charges by the U.S. Department of Justice that they violated antitrust law by agreeing not to advertise in each other’s areas, a fourth will fight the allegations.  Michigan’s Hillsdale Community Health Center, Community Health Center of Branch County, Michigan, and ProMedica Health System Inc, which has two hospitals in the area, are settling the charges.