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Law360, Washington (April 14, 2020, 8:22 PM EDT) -- The Federal Trade Commission has hit a temporary brake on proceedings in three administrative antitrust merger challenges, including Axon Enterprise Inc.'s proposed acquisition of a police body camera supplier, citing disruptions caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The antitrust watchdog said in at least three separate orders Monday that the in-house enforcement actions filed this year — which are probing concerns that the mergers would eliminate competition and are in violation of federal antitrust laws — will be delayed until June.
The agency had issued orders last month, saying it will freeze proceedings and delay the start of evidentiary hearings for Axon's proposed acquisition of its body camera systems competitor Vievu LLC and Altria Group Inc.'s $12.8 billion propped purchase of a stake in private equity-backed e-cigarette startup Juul Labs Inc. for 30 days.
The FTC issued a similar decision earlier this month in its bid to block a planned joint venture between Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, which would combine their coal mining operations in the Southern Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming. Both are the country's two largest coal-mining companies.
In Monday's order, the commission said it has determined to delay the merger proceedings in response to the declared public health emergency associated with the outbreak of COVID-19 and warnings that gatherings of 10 or more persons may facilitate the spread of the disease.
The commission also noted that the administrative law judge overseeing the cases retains the discretion to issue recommendations regarding alternative hearing dates.
The strain caused by COVID-19 has forced antitrust enforcers worldwide to make sweeping changes to their operations, including ordering mass teleworking. The U.S. Department of Justice said last month it's asking companies with pending merger reviews to give antitrust enforcers an extra 30 days to look over deals.
Courts, too, are either shutting down, putting off on-site hearings or switching to phone or video conference to help curtail public gatherings to limit the spread of the disease, which has already killed more than 117,200 people worldwide as of Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization.
The FTC's move came a day before Axon filed a notice of appeal with the Ninth Circuit, stating the company will seek to overturn a California federal judge's April 8 dismissal of its suit challenging the commission's structure and merger review process as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza found that Axon has to raise its constitutional arguments with the agency's internal administrative court first before it can bring them in federal court.
Axon lodged its complaint against the FTC in January on the same day the antitrust enforcer filed the administrative complaint challenging the company's purchase of Vievu.
--Additional reporting by Bryan Koenig. Editing by Gemma Horowitz.
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