AAI’s Diana Moss Talks Private Equity at the Law Leaders Global Conference

AAI’s Diana Moss joined a panel of experts at the Global Competition Review’s  12th Annual GCR Live: Law Leaders Global Conference to discuss the concerns expressed by antitrust agencies regarding private equity firms and their potential violation of antitrust laws on the panel entitled “Mergers: Private equity in the spotlight”.

AAI has long produced outstanding analysis related to private equity. For example, last June, FTC Commissioners cited an AAI study on private equity in healthcare. And you can hear a recent AAI podcast on private equity here.

From the panel description:

Historically, private equity buyers have generally been seen as “financial investors” with low antitrust risk, but more recently antitrust agencies have expressed significant concerns in this area. In the US, both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have made statements suggesting that the private equity investment model is at odds with antitrust laws. In the UK, enforcement actions in the abuse of dominance sphere against private equity firms, though outside the merger context, may further fuel merger related theories of harm given the incentives and practices alleged to have been fostered by private equity. 

This panel will explore recent agency comments on private equity firms and consider if those concerns are legitimate or whether they are focused on a limited number of firms or a limited number of transactions. The discussion will also analyze common ownership and passive ownership issues as they relate to private equity; whether the involvement of private equity is properly considered at the remedy stage; how increased abuse of dominance and board interlocks related enforcement may impact private equity buyers; as well as dig into what “private equity” may, and should, really capture and designate.

Moderator:
Sara Razi, Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Panel:
Ryan Danks, Director of Civil Enforcement, US Department of Justice
Florian Ederer, Associate Professor of Economics, Yale School of Management
Katrin Gassner, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Diana Moss, President, American Antitrust Institute
Arman Oruc, Partner, Goodwin Procter