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. sues to stop Deere from buying Precision Planting.  The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday aimed at stopping Deere & Co from buying Monsanto Co’s Precision Planting farm equipment business.  The Justice Department said the proposed deal would mean higher prices for farmers who want to buy equipment for high-speed precision planting, which allows farmers to plant row crops like corn up to twice as fast as with conventional machinery.   Deere said in a statement that it would fight the lawsuit, saying that the Justice Department’s antitrust concerns were “misguided.”

China Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Uber’s Deal With Didi.  The authorities in China are investigating Uber’s planned sale of its Chinese operations to a local rival, complicating a deal intended to bring the American ride-share operator’s costly venture there to an end.  At a daily news briefing on Friday, Shen Danyang, a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry, said the inquiry was prompted by local concerns about Uber’s plan to sell the business to Didi Chuxing, of China.  The deal, announced last month, would create a company worth about $35 billion that would hold a strong position in the Chinese market for hailing cars via smartphone apps.

Nexstar wins U.S. antitrust approval to merge with Media General.  Nexstar Broadcast Group has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Media General Corp on condition that it sell seven television stations, the Justice Department said on Friday.  The $4.6 billion dollar deal had been announced in January.