The Antitrust Week In Review

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

AB InBev Faces In-Depth U.S. Antitrust Review on SABMiller Deal.  U.S. antitrust officials are expanding their investigation of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s planned takeover of SABMiller Plc.  The Justice Department’s antitrust division has issued a second request to the beer maker, according to the company.  The inquiry signals an expansion of the antitrust enforcers’ review of how the combination would affect competition and prices for beer.

EU Looks Into Consumer Complaint Against McDonald’s.  The European Union is reviewing an antitrust complaint by an alliance of Italian consumer groups that is accusing fast-food giant McDonald’s of abusing its dominant position at the expense of both its franchisees and consumers.  The consumer groups, which are backed by trade unions, claim that McDonald’s forces franchisees to lease property it owns at excessive prices and imposes restrictive contracts.

Exclusive: State attorneys general joining probe of health insurer mergers.  About 15 state attorneys general have joined the U.S. Justice Department’s probe of two big insurance mergers, according to sources, increasing the scrutiny on proposed deals that would reduce the number of nationwide health insurers to three from five.  The formation of this large group to scrutinize both Aetna Inc’s plan to buy Humana Inc and Anthem Inc’s bid for Cigna Corp complicate what was already expected to be a tough and lengthy review by federal antitrust enforcers.