Antitrust & Competition

Kirkland’s antitrust litigation practice is led by a core group of experienced and practical trial lawyers who successfully defend clients in their most important government-initiated and private antitrust cases. The team’s experience covers the full spectrum of antitrust claims, including cartels, monopolization, pricing disputes, unfair competition, price discrimination, intellectual property and merger-related litigation.

Representative Matters

• Represented a manufacturer of ammonium nitrate in a plaintiff-side antitrust, breach of contract and fraud action. Kirkland secured dismissal of five of defendants’ eight claims and defeated in its entirety defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ 13-count complaint. Favorable settlement achieved.
• Representing Gilead Sciences in antitrust class action litigation alleging an anti-competitive reverse payment arising out of a patent litigation settlement concerning the development and sale of certain HIV treatments. Won dismissal of one set of claims on summary judgment and persuaded the court to hold a standalone trial on plaintiffs’ central claim that Gilead paid Teva to delay launch of generic versions of two of Gilead’s HIV treatments. Settlement achieved with retailer plaintiffs and two classes of direct purchasers on the eve of trial. A jury later returned a complete defense verdict for Gilead, rejecting the remaining plaintiffs’ claims seeking more than $10 billion in damages. Motion for new trial defeated. Appeal pending.
• After over five years of litigation and an unsuccessful motion for summary judgment, CDK hired Kirkland as trial counsel to defend it against claims that it conspired not to compete with a competitor. The cases, which were consolidated in multidistrict litigation, relate to software used to manage automobile dealerships. Plaintiffs alleged that CDK and its leading rival, Reynolds & Reynolds, unlawfully conspired not to compete. Kirkland obtained a favorable settlement with the putative class of dealerships (the indirect purchasers) and the direct purchaser class.

Kirkland has immense experience in U.S. and foreign M&A clearances. Kirkland files over 200 Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) notifications annually – the Firm files HSR notifications in approximately 17 percent of all transactions reported to U.S. antitrust agencies annually – and regularly handles transactions requiring European, Asian and Latin American antitrust clearances. Working closely with Kirkland’s corporate attorneys, the antitrust group provides realistic pre-transaction assessments, assists in contractual risk allocation negotiations, and secures expedited regulatory clearances.

Representative Matters

• Oak Street Health, a primary care company, in its $10.6 billion sale to CVS Health.
• Eli Lilly and Company in its $2.4 billion acquisition of DICE Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company.
• Blackstone Infrastructure Partners (BIP) in the $1.5 billion acquisition by IRG Acquisition Holdings LLC, a joint venture between Invenergy, CDPQ and funds managed by BIP, of a 1,365-megawatt unregulated, contracted renewables portfolio from American Electric Power.
• Cascade Investment in its $2.21 billion acquisition of a controlling interest in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, a luxury hospitality company, from Kingdom Holding Company.
• Wheels in its $5 billion combination with Donlen, a developer of innovative fleet management technology solutions. Athene Holding was lead investor in the combination.
• Vincent McMahon, controlling stockholder of World Wrestling Entertainment in its agreement with Endeavor to form a live sports and entertainment company consisting of WWE and UFC with a combined enterprise value of $21.4 billion.
• Nordic Capital-led equity consortium in its ~$7.3 billion acquisition of Inovalon, a provider of cloud-based platforms empowering data-driven healthcare.
• Accel-KKR in its investment in Vendavo, a provider of AI-enabled SaaS pricing and CPQ solutions, along with a re-investment by current owner Francisco Partners.
• Thoma Bravo in its $6.6 billion acquisition of Stamps.com®, a provider of e-commerce shipping solutions.
• Advent International-backed Fort Dearborn, a prime label supplier to the consumer goods marketplace, in its sale to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and concurrent merger with Platinum Equity-backed Multi-Color Corp.
• Vista Equity Partners-backed Mindbody in its acquisition of ClassPass, a monthly subscription service providing access to fitness and wellness experiences.
• Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its $4.3 billion business combination with Core Scientific Holding Co., a provider of infrastructure and software solutions to large scale customers for blockchain hosting and digital asset mining.

Kirkland lawyers have years of experience litigating high-profile criminal antitrust and cartel-related matters, both domestically and internationally. While the Firm’s history of involvement in such matters is decades old, Kirkland lawyers remain at the forefront of this high-stakes practice, defending numerous clients who have come under criminal and civil antitrust scrutiny, whether in the U.S. or other sovereign nations and international bodies. In the course of these ongoing matters, Kirkland lawyers have successfully obtained favorable, non-prosecution resolutions and reasonable settlements and defeated the government at trial.

Representative Matters

• Representing Clemens Family Corporation in antitrust class action seeking treble damages for alleged conspiracy to raise pork prices by reducing supply and exchanging competitively sensitive information among pork producers. Kirkland won dismissal of initial claims and certain amended state-law claims brought by indirect plaintiffs. Settlements achieved with three certified classes. Ongoing claims brought by direct action plaintiffs.
• Representing NewRez in antitrust litigation alleging an industry-wide conspiracy among national mortgage lenders to fix mortgage rates through the sharing of sensitive pricing data on a third-party platform.
• Kirkland lawyers are currently engaged in a wide range of cartel-related matters on behalf of a variety of clients. These matters include market leaders in the following industries:
  • Consumer Products
  • Food & Beverage
  • Healthcare
  • Industrials
  • Life Sciences
  • Materials & Natural Resources
  • Transportation

Kirkland has extensive experience working with the antitrust and competition agencies around the world. Kirkland has competition lawyers in London, Brussels and Shanghai, plus a network of competition attorney contacts, including throughout Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, the remainder of Europe, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and many other countries. This network ensures seamless compliance with the relevant notification requirements and allows for prompt competition clearances from those authorities.

Representative Matters

• Represented a life sciences technology company in an internal investigation following allegations raised by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) in its investigation of the company’s bidding practices.
• Representing a leading manufacturer of replacement auto parts in connection with Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense’s (CADE) cartel investigation into conduct regarding the sale of shock absorbers and exhaust systems in Brazil. With Kirkland’s assistance, CADE’s shock absorber investigation closed without monetary payment by the company. CADE’s exhaust systems investigation is ongoing and the company is fully cooperating.
• Advised a major multinational healthcare company in an antitrust investigation by the Brazilian Competition Authority concerning the cardiac rhythm management market. Settlement achieved.