A year of aggressive antitrust oversight

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-year-of-aggressive-antitrust-oversight-2011-12-22

Dec. 22, 2011, 12:26 a.m. EST
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Obama administration’s defeat of AT&T Corp.’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA caps what has been the administration’s most determined year yet in beating back Corporate America’s blockbuster deal-making.

And no letup in that oversight is expected any time soon, antitrust experts say.

“It is clear that the government is prepared to use litigation and pressure on transactions that it really doesn’t want to see happen and it has been more aggressive this year than in previous years,” said Steve Axinn, partner with the New York law firm of Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP. “They will be just as aggressive and I believe they may be more aggressive in 2012.”


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