In June 2021, White & Case won a second complete victory for Usher when the US Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) dropped its allegation of collusion of forex currency spreads, removing another key cartel allegation. In July, the OCC took the unusual step of dropping all of its charges before summary judgment, ending the US government’s eight-year pursuit of Usher in the DOJ’s top criminal antitrust case of all time, measured by the US$10 billion in fines levied against banks.

We advised Synthos on antitrust aspects of its US$449.4 million acquisition of Trinseo’s synthetic rubber business. The transaction includes the acquisition of Trinseo’s Germany-based manufacturing and research and development facilities, and will enable Synthos to broaden its product portfolio and extend its geographic footprint, including in Asia-Pacific. The transaction triggered merger control thresholds in eight EU Member States, Serbia and Turkey, and was cleared in all instances.

We provided antitrust and FDI advice on a US$2.3 billion disposal by Smiths Group plc of its Smiths Medical business to Trulli Bidco Ltd. Subsequently, we advised Smiths on the sale of Smiths Medical to a strategic bidder, ICU Medical, following ICU’s offer to purchase Smiths Medical on superior terms (US$2.7 billion) than those offered by Trulli Bidco. The switch to a sale to a strategic bidder increased execution risks, given the overlaps in the ICU and Smiths product portfolios, especially in the US, but the deal was approved in all jurisdictions.

We successfully represented ECOBAT Technologies in a cartel proceeding brought by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) for an alleged anticompetitive agreement, a cartel, relating to the purchase of scrap batteries. Following dawn raids and a long and articulated defense, the proceeding has concluded with no finding of any violation of the antitrust rules by ECOBAT or the issuing of any fines. Despite allegations of cartel conduct, the ICA agreed to consider and subsequently accepted commitments under article 14-ter of Law no. 287/90, aimed at removing the ICA’s competition concerns. This is a unique outcome given that under the law, commitments cannot be considered by the ICA in cases of alleged serious violations.