Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Aug 15, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community.

ANTITRUST—Fed. Cl.: The U.S. Court of Claims lacked jurisdiction to hear a Sherman Act claim against the United States based on the pro se plaintiff’s alleged inability to purchase goods related to the alleged seizure and taking of [P]laintiff’s BONDS, International Bills of Exhcange[sic], GSA Bonds, and Trust Certificates, and Safe Keeping Receipts” (Polinski v. U.S., No. 1:25-cv-00760-DAT (Fed. Cl. Aug. 12, 2025)).

ANTITRUST NEWS: An antitrust class action lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts accuses some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities of participating in an illegal conspiracy to inflate the cost of higher education through the collective enforcement of Early Decision admissions policies, Cohen Milstein announced. The complaint, filed by four students and a recent graduate, names as defendants 32 elite colleges and universities, two major college application platforms, and a private, highly secretive membership-only organization of private liberal arts colleges and universities, whose stated purpose is to share admissions and financial aid information among its members.

ANTITRUST NEWS: The European Commission has launched its first review of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). As a first step of this review, the Commission is seeking feedback from interested parties, with a deadline of November 18, 2025. The Foreign Subsidy Regulation started to apply on 13 July 2023. This new set of rules enables the Commission to address any distortions to competition caused by foreign subsidies in the internal market.

ANTITRUST—D.N.J..: An employee’s lawsuit against his former employer, education technology company 2U, Inc., was transferred to the Delaware federal district court from the New Jersey federal district court under the federal venue statute. The employee alleged that certain provisions of his employment agreement with 2U were invalid and that the restrictive covenants violated the Sherman Act. The court found the mandatory Delaware choice of forum clause in the agreement enforceable and that the public interest factors also favored transfer (Hobbi v. 2U, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-02263-WJM-MAH (D.N.J. Aug. 11, 2025)).

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has outlined its preliminary competition concerns with MicroStar’s proposed acquisition of the assets of Konvoy, which is currently in administration and receivership, in a Statement of Issues. MicroStar and Konvoy both supply keg pooling services to brewers across Australia. These services enable brewers to rent kegs from a shared pool on a short-term basis to supply alcoholic beverages to their customers. “The proposed acquisition would combine the only two providers of keg pooling services in Australia,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has approved (i) the acquisition of joint control of the rail operating lease portfolio of Wells Fargo & Company (Wells Fargo) by GATX Corporation (GATX) and Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V-C, L.P. (Brookfield), all of the US; (ii) the acquisition of sole control of the rail finance lease portfolio of Wells Fargo by Brookfield; and (iii) the acquisition of sole control of the locomotive operating lease portfolio of Wells Fargo by GATX. The transaction relates primarily to operation and lease of railcars and locomotives. The EC concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the limited impact on the European Economic Area.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has approved the proposed acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) by Naspers through its subsidiary Prosus. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by Naspers. JET operates online food delivery platforms in several Member States. Prosus is Naspers' investment company, holding stakes in several portfolio companies. The EC concluded that the transaction was likely to raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the internal market, in particular due to decreasing JET's incentives to compete and increasing the likelihood of coordination between JET and Delivery Hero. Following a market test, the EC concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.

CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) took the position in an August 14 post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that there were “grounds for an immediate investigation” into media reports that Meta Platforms, Inc. was aware that its Artificial Intelligence (AI) chat bots were capable of “flirt[ing] and engag[ing] in romantic roleplay with children.” Hawley said, “only after Meta got CAUGHT” did the company retract portions of an internal document that purportedly deemed certain conduct permissible.

PRIVACY NEWS: Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) have urged Meta Platforms, Inc., Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to turn off the recently introduced location-sharing map feature on Meta’s Instagram platform, citing concerns about the safety of minors using the app. Meta announced the location-sharing feature last week, saying that, by default, location sharing would be turned off and that parents could control whether their teens had access to location-sharing. If the child turns location sharing on, the parent could be notified if they chose to be. In a letter to Mr. Zuckerberg, Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal said, “While Meta has argued that the feature is inactive unless users opt in to sharing their location, some consumers have reported that their location was automatically shared without their consent,” citing an Aug. 8 USA Today article. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, joined by 35 other states, also sent a letter to Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, expressing serious concerns about the platform’s new location-sharing feature.

Attorneys: Peter J. Polinski, pro se. Anne Delmare, U.S. Department of Justice, for the U.S. (Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll). Jason Castle (Castle Firm LLC) for Salah Hobbi. Jason Eric Reisman (Blank Rome LLP) for 2U, Inc.

Companies: Meta Platforms, Inc.; MicroStar; Konvoy; Wells Fargo & Company; GATX Corporation; Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V-C, L.P.; 2U, Inc.; Just Eat Takeaway.com; Naspers; Prosus

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