Factbox: US deals blocked by regulators or facing intense scrutiny

Avangrid

11/12/2024 10:52

(Updates after Kroger-Albertsons deal blocked)
       Dec 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge blocked the pending
$25-billion merger of U.S. grocery chains Kroger  KR.N  and
Albertsons  ACI.N  on Tuesday, in the latest win for the Federal
Trade Commission under President Joe Biden's administration.
    Here are other deals that have fallen through, been blocked,
or face scrutiny:  
    
 DEALS TERMINATED    
 DEAL        VALUE        CONTEXT
 JetBlue-Sp  $3.8         JetBlue Airways  JBLU.O  and Spirit
 irit        billion      Airlines  SAVE.N  scrapped their
 Airlines                 $3.8-billion merger agreement in
                          March 2024, with the low-cost
                          carriers saying there was no path
                          forward after a U.S. judge blocked
                          the deal in January on
                          anti-competition concerns.
 Tapestry-C  $8.5         Tapestry  TPR.N  abandoned its bid
 apri        billion      for Michael Kors owner Capri
                           CPRI.N  after a judge blocked it
                          following a lawsuit by the Federal
                          Trade Commission (FTC), nipping the
                          possible creation of a U.S. luxury
                          giant to compete with European
                          behemoths.
 Avangrid    $8.3         Iberdrola's U.S. unit Avangrid Inc
 Inc-PNM     billion       AGR.N  said in January 2024 it had
 Resources                terminated its planned $8.3 billion
                          acquisition of rival PNM Resources
                           PNM.N , because it could not get
                          all the necessary regulatory
                          approvals to close the deal by Dec.
                          31, 2023.
 
 DEALS BLOCKED    
 DEAL        VALUE       CONTEXT
 Kroger-Alb  $25         A U.S. district judge in Portland,
 ertsons     billion     Oregon, as well as a Washington state
                         court judge in Seattle blocked the
                         pending $25 billion merger between the
                         top two traditional grocery chains,
                         Kroger and Albertsons, leaving the
                         companies to consider their options. 
 
 DEALS UNDER SCRUTINY    
 DEAL        VALUE        CONTEXT
 UnitedHeal  $3.3         The U.S. Department of Justice and
 th          billion      three U.S. states filed a lawsuit in
 Group-Amed               November 2024 to block UnitedHealth
 isys Inc                 Group's  UNH.N  $3.3 billion
                          acquisition of Amedisys Inc  AMED.O ,
                          citing concerns that the deal would
                          reduce competition in the home health
                          services market.
 Capital     $35.3        New York Attorney General Letitia
 One-        billion      James is investigating whether
 Discover                 Capital One's  COF.N  proposed $35.3
 Financial                billion takeover of Discover
 Services                 Financial Services  DFS.N  violates
                          the state's antitrust law, the state
                          said in October 2024. 
 Nippon      $14.9        Nippon Steel's  5401.T  $14.9 billion
 Steel-U.S.  billion      bid for U.S. Steel  X.N  has faced
 Steel                    opposition by both newly elected
                          President Donald Trump and the
                          outgoing Biden administration. A top
                          Nippon Steel executive and U.S.
                          Steel's CEO met with senior U.S.
                          officials in September in an effort
                          to salvage the deal. 
 Tempur      $4 billion   The U.S. Federal Trade Commission
 Sealy                    said in July 2024 it would sue to
 Internatio               block the $4 billion merger between
 nal-                     mattress manufacturer Tempur Sealy
 Mattress                 International Inc  TPX.N  and
 Firm                     retailer Mattress Firm. Tempur Sealy
                          now expects to close the deal later
                          this year or early 2025.
    

 (Reporting by Ananta Agarwal and Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru;
Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
 ((Ananta.agarwal@thomsonreuters.com;))