Antitrust Division

Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission Extend Public Comment on Request for Information Targeting Serial Acquisitions, Roll-Up Strategies Across U.S. Economy The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are extending the deadline for the public to comment on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies that harm competition by 60 days. The joint request for information (RFI) seeks to learn more about how corporate actors, including private equity owned businesses, become larger — and potentially dominant — through acquisitions of several smaller firms in the same or related business sectors or industries. The new deadline to submit comments is Sept. 20. Businesses do not have to report every deal to the federal antitrust agencies, but some non-reportable deals still allow firms to amass significant control over key products, services or labor markets without government scrutiny. These types of transactions can harm competition to the detriment of consumers, workers and innovation across an entire industry or business sector. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ggZvyfpm

Jury Convicts Two Executives in Longstanding Antitrust Conspiracy to Fix Prices, Rig Bids and Allocate Markets for Concrete A jury convicted Gregory and David Melton yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Savannah, Georgia, for their role in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate markets for sales of ready-mix concrete in Georgia and South Carolina. The conspiracy, which began as early as 2010 and continued until about July 2016, involved coordinating price-increase letters to customers, allocating specific jobs in the coastal Georgia area and submitting bids to customers at collusive and noncompetitive prices. Including yesterday’s verdicts, this investigation resulted in five criminal convictions and one deferred prosecution agreement. Defendants James Pedrick, Timothy Strickland and Strickland’s company, Evans LLC, previously pleaded guilty as a part of the same conspiracy. Pedrick’s former employer, Argos USA LLC, previously entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Antitrust Division, admitted to its participation in the conspiracy and agreed to pay a $20 million criminal penalty. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eiTh45FT

It's your game. Keep it fair. 🏆 We’re teaming up with Competition Bureau Canada and Mexico's Cofece to stop #collusion. Report any suspected violations of federal antitrust law to the Justice Department: https://lnkd.in/ghJeiU4c

Fair play — on and off the field! ⚽ Take a stand against bid rigging, price fixing, and monopolization by learning how DOJ is partnering with Competition Bureau Canada and Mexico's Cofece to keep the game fair and competitive: https://lnkd.in/ghJeiU4c

Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter Delivers Keynote at Open Markets Institute's “Fixing the Information Crisis Before It's Too Late (for Democracy)” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gQuWxz52

Show collusion the red card! 🚩 We’re working with Competition Bureau Canada and Mexico's Cofece to combat suspected federal antitrust crimes. DOJ needs your help to report #anticompetitive conduct: https://lnkd.in/ghJeiU4c

Three Nations, One Goal | We’re joining Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission and Canada’s Competition Bureau to help blow the whistle on #Anticompetitive practices ⚽ Learn more about our joint effort to deter, detect, and prosecute collusion in connection with the FIFA World Cup 26: https://lnkd.in/ghJeiU4c

Four Additional States Join Justice Department’s Suit Against Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets The Attorneys General of Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington today joined the civil antitrust lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, 15 states and the District of Columbia against Apple in March for monopolizing multiple smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The department and its now expanded group of 20 co-plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in the District of New Jersey. “We welcome the States of Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington, who join our existing coalition to restore competition in the smartphone markets that Apple has monopolized,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “We look forward to litigating this important case alongside our state partners to deliver the benefits of competition to consumers, app developers, accessory makers and the American public.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gv2YDfv3

#ThisWeekatJustice, ▶️ Attorney General Merrick B. Garland highlighted the historic decline in #ViolentCrime before the House Judiciary Committee ▶️ Charged 47 defendants, made dozens of arrests, and seized 2 million doses of fentanyl associated with the Sinaloa Cartel to combat #DrugTrafficking ▶️ Justice Department leadership underscored expansions in access to cutting-edge crime gun intelligence technology at ATF's Third Annual Chiefs of Police Executive Forum on Crime Guns ▶️ Announced 4 arrests and kilogram seizures of illegal substances by #LawEnforcement in relation to a drug trafficking conspiracy in Washington and New Jersey after a year-long wiretap investigation ▶️ Sentenced a white supremacist to 26 months and 3 years of supervised release for federal hate crimes targeting Black and Jewish people and desecrating a synagogue Keep up with the latest news from the Justice Department at justice.gov/news For closed captions: https://lnkd.in/gVX4RCvH

Justice Department and State Coalition Restore Competition for College Athletes at NCAA Division I Institutions 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gDGiD6UZ