US: FTC fines Madison Square Garden owner

James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks and CEO of the Madison Square Garden Company, violated federal law when he failed to tell government agencies of his acquisition of additional voting securities in the company, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Thursday, December 6.

Dolan has agreed to pay US$609,810 in civil penalties to settle the charges, the FTC stated.

Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR), certain people are required to notify the Department of Justice and the FTC and observe a waiting period before acquiring voting securities or assets. In 2017, the requirements appllied to transactions of more than US$80.8 million and those in which the acquirer would hold voting shares in excess of US$161.5 million.

The Madison Square Garden Company sent The Hollywood Reporter a statement in response to the settlement: “Any shareholder whose stockholdings exceed certain thresholds is required to make an HSR filing. Debevoise & Plimpton is the law firm responsible for making timely HSR filings relating to Jim Dolan’s MSG stock. Debevoise inadvertently missed a required HSR filing deadline, for a second time, which resulted in a fine by the FTC. Debevoise agreed to pay the fine as a result of their mistake.”