US: Obama appointee light on antitrust experience

Judge Amit Mehta is the federal district court judge assigned to hear the US government’s antitrust fight with Sysco Corp over its proposed merger with US Foods Inc. He might be new to the bench, but has a long record of handling high-profile litigation. Reuters however reported on Tuesday the Judge is short in experience on antitrust issues.

On Feb 19, the US government filed a lawsuit to block Sysco-US Foods proposed merger, saying that the deal would eliminate competition in the sector. Sysco’s merger with US Foods has been controversial from the beginning. The FTC was concerned that the merger would reduce competition nationwide and in local markets for foodservice distribution. Judge Mehta was confirmed to the US District Court for the District of Columbia in December of last year. This year he has been assigned to hear the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit meant to block the $3.5-billion Sysco-US Foods deal.

Sysco has been trying to resolve FTC’s concerns over the past 12 months related to its acquisition of US Foods for approximately $8.2 billion, inclusive of debt. Not only this, in order to seek FTC’s approval for the merger, Sysco, on Feb 2, agreed to sell 11 facilities contingent upon the closing of its proposed merger with US Foods. However, FTCl finds this offer inadequate as these divestitures will not help to restore the lost competition.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that despite having ample experience in litigation Judge Mehta lacks experience in the antirust field.

Full Content: Reuters

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