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Antitrust | Colleges & Universities | Debt
Financing | Health
Care
Intellectual
Property & Rights Management | International | Investment
Management
Life
Sciences | Private
Equity | Private
Investment Funds | Real
Estate | Securities & Public
Companies
Sports Law |
Technology
Companies | Venture
Capital
& Emerging Companies
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How big is our practice group?
Six
partners and twelve associates.
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Ann Wiles (Vanderbilt University
Law School '06) has been a lawyer at Ropes & Gray since
2006 and has worked on a variety of antitrust matters. Most
recently, Ann worked on a second request from the Federal
Trade Commission received in connection with a merger investigation.
Ann played a critical role in helping prepare the clients
for depositions and working with the client and economists
to draft responses to the FTC's requests. |
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What
do we do?
We represent a broad range of domestic and international clients,
including private equity, investment and hedge fund clients, corporations,
individuals and trade and professional associations, in all aspects
of antitrust and competition law counseling and litigation. Our
practice is grounded in the traditional areas of competition law — mergers,
acquisitions, price fixing, distribution and licensing — and
have particular expertise in the areas of high technology, life
sciences, sports, communications and health care. We also have
considerable experience in representing the specialized needs of
our private equity, investment, hedge fund and venture capital
clients. |
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John
Carroll (The George Washington University Law School
'04) joined Ropes & Gray in 2007, having been with
the Federal Trade Commission for over three years. Since
his arrival, John has played an integral role in several
significant merger investigations and life sciences and
healthcare transactions. John has worked closely
with a wide variety of clients in minimizing their antitrust
risk. Recently, John worked on a telecommunications
transaction in which he and others successfully navigated
the transaction through regulatory approval. |
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| What
have we done lately? |
- Clear Channel. Represented Thomas H. Lee Partner
and Bain Capital in connection with their acquisition of Clear
Channel Communications, a $37 billion transaction involving the
largest radio station network in the nation. In consideration
of pre-existing market overlaps, the transaction was presented
to the Justice Department and a settlement was successfully negotiated
prior to filing the HSR pre-merger notification. Regulatory
clearance for the transaction was also obtained in several foreign
jurisdictions.
- Brooks Automation. Represented in connection
with the sale of Brooks Software, a leading provider of computer
integrated manufacturing software for the semiconductor and flat
panel display industries, to Applied Materials, one of the leading
software providers in the same industry. While the Justice
Department’s investigation resulted in the issuance of a
second request, the acquisition was ultimately permitted to go
forward without divestiture or other remedial action.
- N.E.W. Represented Berkshire Partners and N.E.W.,
a provider of extended warranty and customer service plans in
the consumer products area with Assurion Wireless, a provider
of comparable services in the telecommunications space. Despite
substantial staff concerns that the transaction would result
in a significantly increased concentration in an emerging non-specialized
extended warranty and service market, we successfully urged staff
supervisors to terminate the investigation prior to the issuance
of a second request.
- TravelCenters of America. Represented
TravelCenters of America, a Fortune 500 company and operator
of a nationwide chain of truck stops, in several litigation matters,
including antitrust litigation brought by competitor Flying J,
Inc. alleging illegal monopolization and an unlawful group boycott
of products offered by a Flying J subsidiary. We reached
a favorable settlement for TA in an amount that was less than
the attorneys' fees incurred and that avoided the future cost
of the ongoing litigation. Flying J, Inc. v. TA Operating Corp.
(D. Utah 2006).
- The Weather Channel. Represented Bain
Capital and the Blackstone Group as part of a joint venture with
NBC Universal to acquire joint control of The Weather Channel.
In addition to working through some particular and unique product
market definitions, the transaction required pre-merger clearance
filings and substantive antitrust analysis in almost a dozen
jurisdictions world wide.
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Samantha
Barrett Badlam (University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill '06) has been a member of the Antitrust
group since 2006. She has worked closely with
the group's partners to advocate on behalf of our clients
before both the Federal Trade Commission and Justice
Department and played a key role in the Clear Channel
transaction. |
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Jane
Willis (Harvard Law School '94) is a Litigation partner
in the Antitrust group who regularly handles, among other
things, antitrust agency enforcement actions (such as price-fixing
investigations), Federal Trade Commission and Department
Of Justice merger review proceedings, and private antitrust
litigation. |
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When do we meet?
The group meets monthly to review client and legal developments.
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