Analysis Group Again Recognized Among the Leading Global Economics Consultancies by Global Competition Review
January 11, 2022
Analysis Group has again been recognized as a leader on the Global Competition Review (GCR) Economics 23. The annual ranking highlights top economics consulting firms, evaluated by size of practice, reputation, and work on impactful competition matters over the previous year. Analysis Group was recognized as having an outstanding competition practice, with 331 competition economists across its offices worldwide supporting 159 litigation cases, 32 merger reviews, and 32 government investigations in 2021.
“As scrutiny over competition continues to ratchet up around the world, it is increasingly important to understand the complex economics underlying the dynamics of competition in evolving markets,” said Martha S. Samuelson, CEO and Chairman of Analysis Group. “I’m thrilled at the innovative, creative, and sound economics my colleagues across the firm bring to bear on behalf of our clients. The Economics 23 recognition is a testament to the fruits of their labor, and I applaud each for their efforts.”
GCR called out Analysis Group’s significant role in many of the past year’s noteworthy antitrust cases around the world, including:
LVMH’s Acquisition of Tiffany & Co.
- An Analysis Group team supported LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE in its $15.8 billion acquisition of global luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. The team provided economic analysis in support of securing merger approval from competition authorities across nine countries and the EU. This support included assessing relevant product and geographic markets and evaluating the likelihood of unilateral and coordinated effects. The merger was cleared globally without remedies.
Worldline’s Acquisition of Ingenico
- An Analysis Group team supported Worldline’s acquisition of Ingenico, a rival payment services and point-of-sale terminal provider. The team evaluated the combined market power of the merged entity in the firms’ vertically integrated and closely related markets for payment processing and merchant acquisition. The economic modeling results demonstrated that the combined entity would have neither the ability nor the incentives to foreclose competitors, and that doing so would result in large losses that would not be offset by any meaningful gains. The EU approved the merger, conditional on divestitures in Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
French Competition Authority's (FCA’s) Investigation of Kärcher SAS
- An Analysis Group team supported Kärcher SAS in its successful bid to obtain a dismissal of the FCA’s resale price maintenance claims. The team provided analysis and critiques of economic arguments advanced by the FCA, demonstrating that the retailers made their own pricing decisions without regard to Kärcher’s recommended prices, and that Kärcher had no reaction to these pricing decisions. Further support included an economic critique of the theory of harm presented by the FCA’s investigation services body. The FCA concluded that the German power- cleaning equipment manufacturer’s recommended resale pricing practices did not amount to anticompetitive resale price maintenance.
In re: Niaspan Antitrust Litigation
- An Analysis Group team supported Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and their subsidiaries in a multidistrict antitrust suit brought by purchasers of the cholesterol drug Niaspan. The team aided an expert witness in addressing the ascertainability requirement and in critiquing the plaintiffs’ methodology for correctly identifying class members. Citing the experts’ submissions, a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied class certification, writing that the plaintiffs “may not adopt a methodology that changes as defendants test its reliability and, in the end, fails to accomplish what is required.”
United States v. Richard Usher, et al.
- An Analysis Group team retained on behalf of former foreign exchange traders Rohan Ramchandani and Richard Usher supported three academic affiliates in parallel cartel conduct proceedings brought by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The testifying experts opined on trading behavior, industry practices, and anticompetitive conduct. Ultimately, following expert depositions, the OCC withdrew all charges against Usher and Ramchandani, ending the two cases.