Neal R. Stoll represents clients in connection with investigations conducted by the staff of the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division; Part 2 investigations conducted by the staffs of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition and Bureau of Consumer Protection; and Part 3 administrative proceedings and appeals. He also has federal trial and appellate experience in cases involving monopolization, distribution practices, the Robinson-Patman Act and acquisitions. Mr. Stoll counsels clients on antitrust issues stemming from mergers and acquisitions. For example, he represented BlackRock, Inc. in its $20 billion acquisition of Barclays Global Investors; Chevron Corporation in its $4.3 billion acquisition of Atlas Energy Inc.; Ecolab Inc. in its $8.1 billion acquisition of Nalco Holdings Company; Pactiv Corporation in its $6 billion acquisition by Reynolds Group Holdings Limited; CF Industries Holdings Inc. with its exchange offer for Terra Industries Inc. and CF Industries Holdings Inc. regarding Agrium Inc.’s unsolicited exchange offer; The Coca-Cola Company in its proposed acquisition of China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited; M&F Worldwide Corp. in its acquisition of John H. Harland Company; The May Department Store Company in connection with its merger with Federated Department Stores, Inc.; Guidant Corporation in connection with its proposed acquisitions by Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific; Caesars Entertainment, Inc. in connection with its merger with Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.; and TRW Inc. in connection with its merger with Northrop Grumman Corporation. He also was lead counsel in United States v. The Gillette Company (acquisition of Parker Pen Ltd.), and United States v. Rank Organisation Plc (acquisition of Deluxe Film Laboratories). In addition, he has handled the antitrust matters relating to acquisitions and dispositions for The Milton Hershey Trust, MacAndrews & Forbes Group Incorporated, Revlon Group Incorporated and Ball Corporation. Mr. Stoll also advises corporate clients on other antitrust and consumer protection matters, including compliance programs and advice regarding the implementation of proposed business plans. He has advised a number of consumer product companies in connection with the implementation of marketing and promotional business plans. Mr. Stoll has lectured for the Practicing Law Institute, the New York State and City Bar Associations, and has co-authored a treatise and more than 360 articles on antitrust and trade regulation matters. He repeatedly has been included in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. In addition, he was selected for inclusion in Leaders in Their Field 2006.
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On January 15, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the revised thresholds for determining whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act). If a proposed (...)
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On June 28, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted a proposed rulemaking to codify its longstanding informal procedures for voluntarily withdrawing and refiling an HSR filing and, more significantly, to mandate that certain HSR filings will be deemed to be automatically withdrawn (...)
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On April 8, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed settlement with hair restoration company Bosley, Inc. to resolve allegations that Bosley illegally exchanged competitively sensitive, nonpublic business information with competitor HC (USA), Inc., commonly known as Hair (...)
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, if adopted, will codify the FTC’s longstanding informal procedures for voluntarily withdrawing and refiling an HSR Act Premerger Notification and Report Form (HSR filing) and, more significantly, will (...)
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On January 10, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the revised thresholds for determining whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act). If a proposed (...)
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On April 29, 2011, the Premerger Notification Office (PNO) of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a statement “to provide greater clarity about the use of escrows in connection with transactions” that require notification under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as (...)
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In a decision broadly critical of the Federal Trade Commission’s case challenging the acquisition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories, Inc., a medical laboratory company, by Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), Judge Andrew Guilford of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of (...)
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On January 21, 2010, after a three-year and four-month investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $900,000 settlement with meat processors Smithfield Foods Inc. and Premium Farms LLC to resolve DOJ allegations that Smithfield exercised operational control over Premium (...)
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On April 27, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission adopted final rules amending Parts 3 and 4 of its Rules of Practice. The adoption of these rules is a culmination of efforts going back a couple of years to make changes that would expedite adjudications of allegedly anti-competitive merger (...)
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The Federal Trade Commission earlier this week obtained a $1.1 million civil penalty against ValueAct Capital Partners, L.P. (“ValueAct”) for ValueAct’s failure to file the required Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) premerger notifications before acquiring additional shares of voting securities of (...)
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The Ninth Circuit evaluated the antitrust implications of multiproduct or “bundled” discounts in Cascade Health Solutions v. PeaceHealth, CV-02-06032 (Sept. 4, 2007). In doing so, the Ninth Circuit rejected the controversial Third Circuit rule of LePage’s Inc. v. 3M, 324 F.3d 141 (3d Cir. 2003), (...)
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On April 13, 2006, the Department of Justice ( “DOJ” ) announced that it had reached a $1.8 million settlement with Qualcomm Incorporated and Flarion Technologies, Inc. to resolve allegations that they each violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976 (“ HSR Act ”) by “jumping the gun” in connection (...)
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On February 16, 2006, Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras announced a number of “reforms” to the merger review process to “…address the increased burden on parties and the staff ” and “streamline the merger review process by formalizing well-defined best practices.” These (...)
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