May 03, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice challenge to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business is on hold at least until Monday after a D.C. federal judge paused the proceedings three times after six days of bench trial, without explanation.
May 01, 2023
A D.C. federal judge on Monday questioned a core part of the Justice Department challenge to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business, stating that the companies are incentivized to find a "strong buyer" for divested assets, not a weak one.
April 28, 2023
An executive for Assa Abloy's divestiture buyer appeared Friday to feed into a D.C. federal judge's concerns that the two companies don't have a better dispute resolution process than litigation, in a potentially important blow to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business.
April 27, 2023
A Fortune Brands executive on Thursday defended the company's suitability as a buyer for assets Assa Abloy plans to divest to address competitive concerns raised by the $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business.
April 26, 2023
The D.C. federal judge handling the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business delivered a cryptic warning to the parties Wednesday during proceedings that were often closed to the public.
April 25, 2023
An Assa Abloy executive pushed back Tuesday on U.S. Department of Justice arguments that divestiture plans won't address concerns that the $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business will tip the competitive scales, asserting that the company is heavily decentralized, not an integrated global operation as the government contends.
April 24, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice barred Assa Abloy from divesting assets to a private equity buyer in order to address concerns about the company's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business, signaling a potentially broader policy shift revealed during opening arguments Monday in the government's merger challenge.
April 23, 2023
Evasive witnesses will carry little weight in the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business, the D.C. federal judge presiding over the trial, her first as a judge, said Saturday.
April 21, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division on Monday kicks off its latest merger trial of the Biden era and with it, another chance to raise its low batting average in litigated deal challenges.
April 17, 2023
The D.C. federal judge who next week will hear the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to Assa Abloy's $4.3 billion pickup of Spectrum Brands' hardware and home improvement business, one of her very first trials, had plenty of pointed questions for the parties on Monday — and one admonition.