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United States: How to navigate the FTC’s new Private Equity frontier

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In brief

Last year, we warned that the Federal Trade Commission was starting to go after directors, owners and private equity firms in control of entities that violated American antitrust laws. That has now proven true.

On 21 September, the FTC filed a 106-page complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas against US Anesthesia Partners Inc. and its private equity investor, Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe XI LP.

In this article, originally published in Law360, Baker McKenzie attorneys delve into the complaint and its potential impacts, including acting as an early test of the newly proposed draft merger guidelines where the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ.

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Author

William Roppolo is the Head of Litigation and Government Enforcement for Baker McKenzie's New York and Miami offices, and serves as Chair of the North America Trial Team. He is also Lead Partner of the Miami office. William has successfully tried commercial and criminal cases throughout the United States, including matters involving alleged antitrust, fraud and money laundering violations. He began his legal career investigating financial crimes with the United States Customs Service. William is a former president of the Federal Bar Association's South Florida chapter and was recently appointed to the national Federal Bar Association's Professional Ethics Committee. He has published many articles on topics ranging from anti-corruption to successor liability.

Author

Mark Weiss is a partner in the Firm's North America Antitrust & Competition Practice Group. He is an experienced litigator and counselor with proficiency in antitrust litigation, class-action defense, federal multi-district litigation, and no-poach defense. Mark has vigorously and tirelessly represented clients in a variety of industries including manufacturing, mining, high-tech industries, banking, defense contracting, aerospace, and energy.
As an experienced antitrust counsel, Mark has also conducted cartel investigations and internal compliance reviews, and regularly provides antitrust advice on a broad range of non-litigation matters, including sales and distribution advice, antitrust compliance, competitive merger analysis, and merger clearance strategy.
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Mark worked at another global law firm with a focus on class-action antitrust litigation, including defending a global electronics manufacturer from price-fixing and collusion claims, defending a major global financial institution from antitrust collusion and boycott claims, and defending a large government defense contractor from claims alleging illegal no-poach agreements.

Author

Ashley Eickhof is a senior associate in the Firm's North America Antitrust & Competition Practice Group. Ashley is an experienced litigator and has tried criminal cases in federal court. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Ashley worked at another large international law firm in the Antitrust and Competition Practice Group. Before that, Ashley began her career as a federal prosecutor for the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice.

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