The Antitrust Week In Review

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

U.S. judge probes Uber over allegations of fraud in antitrust case. Uber must hand over documents to a federal judge probing whether private investigators hired by the ride-hailing company fraudulently sought information about its opponents in an antitrust case.  U.S. District court Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan is seeking to determine whether Uber instructed an investigator to lie in order to elicit information about Spencer Meyer, lead plaintiff in the antitrust lawsuit, and his attorney.  The suit, filed in December, alleges that Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick engaged in a price-fixing scheme with Uber drivers.  While the proposed class action names Kalanick and not the ride-hailing company, Uber is seeking to intervene in the lawsuit.

U.S. Files Antitrust Case Against North Carolina’s Largest Health System. North Carolina’s largest health system faces allegations that it quashed competition with demands that insurers not steer consumers to rivals, in the latest sign of antitrust scrutiny across the consolidating health-care sector.  The U.S. Department of Justice and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a civil antitrust case against Carolinas HealthCare System on Thursday, alleging the system used the market power of its 10 hospitals in and around Charlotte, N.C., to win concessions from commercial insurers that stifled competition on hospital price and quality.  According to the lawsuit, Employers and consumers pay more for health care as a result.

Glencore Must Face U.S. Lawsuit Over Zinc Prices. Two units of Anglo-Swiss mining company Glencore Plc must face a private antitrust lawsuit accusing them of trying to monopolize the market for special high grade zinc, driving up its price.  U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan said zinc purchasers alleged “a plausible story of market control” by the Glencore units, Glencore Ltd and Pacorini Metals USA Inc, that violated the Sherman Act, a U.S. antitrust law.  In a 62-page decision, the judge also dismissed the purchasers’ claim that Glencore’s 2010 purchase of Pacorini was an illegal merger because its effect was to reduce competition.

Hutchison Seeks EU OK for Vimpelcom Deal With Concessions. CK Hutchison Holdings has offered to strengthen rivals such as Swisscom’s Fastweb in return for EU antitrust approval for its plan to merge its Italian mobile business with that of Vimpelcom, according to a source.  The European Commission said on Tuesday that Hutchison has offered concessions in a bid for EU approval of the deal.  Hutchison, controlled by Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, put in its proposal last Monday, according to a filing on the commission’s website, without providing details.