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The US Federal Trade Commission has allowed Amgen to continue its $28.3bn acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, while preventing the drugmaker from using anticompetitive tactics to extend the market dominance of two Horizon drugs, Reuters reported.
The agreement ends months of uncertainty over the deal since the FTC in May filed a lawsuit over concerns that Amgen would leverage its drugs to secure favorable insurance coverage terms for Horizon's thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout drug Krystexxa.
"While the companies do not have drugs that directly compete with one another, Commission staff focused on the deal rationale and assessed how the acquisition would change the combined firm's power and incentive to thwart competition," Lina Khan, FTC Chair.
Amgen is advised by Citi (led by Sumit Khedekar and Tyler Dickson), PJT Partners (led by Paul J. Taubman), Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (led by Frank Aquila), William Fry (led by (led by Mark Talbot and Myra Garrett) and Edelman (led by Lex Suvanto). Debt providers are advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (led by Nick Benham and Jason Kyrwood). Horizon is advised by J.P. Morgan (led by Steven Frank), Morgan Stanley (led by David Kitterick, Joseph Modisett and Tedd Smith), Cooley LLP (led by Rama Padmanabhan and Barbara Borden), Matheson LLP (led by David Jones and David Fitzgibbon) and Kekst CNC (led by Daniel Yunger). Financial advisers are advised by Debevoise & Plimpton (led by Andrew Bab) and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (led by Robert Stebbins and Laura Delanoy).
Intercontinental Exchange can move forward with its takeover of Black Knight after the US Federal Trade Commission accepted a binding settlement that will see key mortgage software products sold to rival Constellation Software Inc.
FTC commissioners voted to accept the settlement. Under the agreement, the companies will divest Black Knight's Empower loan origination software and its Optimal Blue business to Toronto-based Constellation. Optimal Blue is the most widely used software for identifying and securing loan rates, used by lender for about 40% of the residential mortgages originated in the US each year. The companies also agreed to seek FTC approval before acquiring any other businesses related to loan origination or product pricing for the next 10 years, Bloomberg reported.
Black Knight is advised by JPMorganChase , and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz . JP Morgan is advised by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP . ICE is advised by Credit Suisse , Goldman Sachs , Wells Fargo , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP .
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Canada's Competition Bureau said that RBC 's $10.1bn offer to buy HSBC 's domestic unit was unlikely to hurt competition, clearing the way for the country's largest bank to push ahead with its biggest acquisition, Reuters reported.
The bureau said HSBC Canada's competitive impact was limited when compared to other financial institutions and found that the unit of the British bank had achieved limited market penetration in most financial services.
RBC is advised by Goldman Sachs , RBC Capital Markets , Allen & Overy (led by Duncan Bellamy), Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP , Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (led by Edward D. Herlihy, Jacob A. Kling, and Eric Feinstein) and Community Group (led by Auro Palomba and Pasquo Cicchini). HSBC is advised by HSBC , J.P. Morgan , Linklaters (led by Christopher Yip and Derek Tong), Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (led by Mitchell S. Eitel and Stephen M. Salley), and Brunswick Group .
Berkshire Hathaway , a multinational conglomerate company, completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Cove Point LLC , the owner of the liquified natural gas import facility, from Dominion Energy , an electric services company, for $3.3bn.
"We are pleased for this opportunity to own a greater stake in the Cove Point LNG business. BHE GT&S will continue its excellent operating and commercial performance at Cove Point, which plays an important role in Berkshire Hathaway Energy's delivery of clean, low-cost and sustainable energy solutions to customers and communities," Paul Ruppert, BHE President of GT&S.
Dominion Energy was advised by Mizuho , RBC Capital Markets , McGuireWoods LLP and Brunswick Group .
Globus Medical , a musculoskeletal solutions company, completed the merger with NuVasive , a medical devices company based in San Diego, in a $3.1bn deal.
"We're thrilled to begin our journey together to create a leading global musculoskeletal company. With a relentless focus on changing patient lives, we're combining our differentiated portfolios and talented teams to reach more customers as we advance spine and orthopedic care globally," Daniel Scavilla , Globus Medical President and CEO.
NuVasive was advised by Bank of America , Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Joele Frank (led by Eric Brielmann and Barrett Golden). Bank of America was advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (led by Paul Shim). Globus Medical was advised by Goldman Sachs and Goodwin Procter (led by Laura Umbrecht, Jennifer L. Porter and Rachael M. Bushey). Goldman Sachs was advised by Freshfields (led by Sebastian L. Fain and Damien R. Zoubek).
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