Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Aug 9, 2016)
Law Firms Mentioned:Cantey Hanger LLP | Sanders, O'Hanlon, & Motley PLLC
Organizations Mentioned:Cantey Hanger, LLP | Federal Trade Commission | Konecranes plc | Liberty Supply Co. | Terex Corp.
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has cleared under the EU merger regulation the acquisition of U.S.-based Terex’s Material Handling & Port Solutions Segment (MHPS) by Konecranes, the agency has announced. Konecranes, headquartered in Finland, is a global supplier of lifting equipment. MHPS supplies industrial cranes, crane components, crane services, and container handling equipment. The proposed acquisition would bring Konecranes and MHPS together as the world’s leading provider of hoists, industrial cranes, and handling solutions. The decision to approve the acquisition is conditional on Konecranes’ divestment of its Stahl subsidiary, which supplies industrial cranes, crane components and spare parts, to an EC approved buyer.
CONSUMER PROTECTION—E.D. Tex.: The alleged operators of an unlawful office supply scam could not persuade the federal district court in Sherman, Texas, to lift an asset freeze to provide interim attorney fees. The FTC estimated that the approximate amount of damages would be $7.9 million for Liberty Supply Co.’s alleged scam of billing consumers for, and aggressively seeking payment for, unordered merchandise, but the receivership estate is insufficient to pay for any consumer restitution. The court concluded that Liberty Co. and the individual defendants failed to meet their burden of demonstrating that they could not pay for their legal representation from their exempt assets, including resources in personal IRAs, rental income, social security accounts, and the equity in property claimed as homestead. The court entered a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in December 2015, freezing the defendants’ assets (FTC v. Liberty Supply Co., August 8, 2016, Mazzant, A.).
Attorneys: Eric Nelson Roberson for the Federal Trade Commission. Roger D. Sanders (Sanders, O'Hanlon, & Motley PLLC) and Deanya Kueckelhan Cocanougher (Cantey Hanger LLP) for Liberty Supply Co.
Companies: Konecranes plc; Terex Corp.; Liberty Supply Co.
News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews TexasNews