U.S. Steel Acquisition of Lone Star
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division allowed U.S. Steel’s acquisition of Lone Star Steel to proceed without a second request. The $2.1 billion acquisition made U.S. steel the largest producer of steel pipe and tube in North America. Joseph W. McAnneny presented the Division with a paper describing how the acquisition would lead to substantial cost savings and have no anticompetitive effects. Henry B. McFarland assisted in writing the paper. The law firm of Reed Smith was antitrust counsel to U.S. Steel.
Clarke American Acquisition of Harland
Clarke American, a wholly owned subsidiary of M&F Worldwide, recently acquired the John H. Harland Company for $1.7 billion. William P. Hall worked with Jeff Spigel of King and Spalding in representing Harland during the Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigation of the acquisition. The Department of Justice decided not to challenge the acquisition, which reduced the number of national check printers in the United States from three to two.
FCC Allocates Spectrum to TMI/TerreStar
Bruce M. Owen and Kent W Mikkelsen assisted TMI/TerreStar in obtaining an increase in 2 GHz spectrum allocated by the FCC. Their analysis concluded that firms providing mobile satellite service (MSS) in the 2 GHz band compete with MSS providers in other frequency bands, so that the proposed allocation would not create a duopoly in the 2 GHz band. TMI/TerreStar was represented by Goldberg, Godles, Wiener & Wright, Vinson & Elkins, and Covington & Burling.