Analysis Group Recognized for Economic Analysis in UnitedHealth Merger and Broiler Chicken Criminal Antitrust Litigation by Global Competition Review's 2023 Awards

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Apr 04, 2023, 09:00 ET

BOSTON, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, is honored to have worked on two matters recognized by Global Competition Review's (GCR's) 2023 antitrust awards for "creative, strategic, and innovative work by teams of in-house and external lawyers and economists."

UnitedHealth Group/Change Healthcare Merger

Analysis Group was acknowledged at the GCR awards ceremony for its work on US, et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc., et al., which was awarded "Merger Control Matter of the Year – Americas." The teams working on the merger successfully defeated all three theories of harm put forward by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and attorneys general from New York and Minnesota in their bid to block the $13 billion tie-up.

An Analysis Group team led by Principal Mark Lewis, Vice President Emily Cotton, and Manager Philipp Tillmann provided analytical support to academic affiliate Catherine Tucker. In a portion of her testimony, Professor Tucker refuted one of the DOJ's chief objections to the transaction – that UnitedHealth would exploit its access to Change Healthcare's privileged information to unfair advantage over competitors. She explained that UnitedHealth would handicap its own business should it attempt to take anticompetitive advantage of the information made available through the merger. In allowing the merger to proceed, Judge Carl J. Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia found that the government relied "on speculation rather than real-world evidence" for its claims that UnitedHealth would exploit Change's data and innovations to benefit its own health plan and disadvantage rivals. The companies closed the deal in October 2022.

Broiler Chicken Criminal Antitrust Litigation

Analysis Group was also recognized for its work on US v. Penn, et al., which was awarded "Behavioural Matter of the Year – Americas." In the matter, the DOJ alleged that the defendants engaged in an agreement to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens between 2012 and 2019. The DOJ charged the defendants with a criminal violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act for an alleged conspiracy to restrain trade. Following a hung jury in two prior trials, the DOJ took the unprecedented step of trying the case a third time.

An Analysis Group team led by Managing Principal Andrea Okie; Principal Mark Lewis; and Vice Presidents Kevin Gallagher, Ishita Rajani, and David Smith supported academic affiliate Professor Edward Snyder in preparing his testimony for all three trials. In his testimony on the existence of economic evidence consistent with a price-fixing agreement during the third trial, Professor Snyder showed that exchanges of information are expected in the broiler chicken industry and do not necessarily indicate a conspiracy. He also showed that the at-issue prices were not systematically higher than a set of benchmark prices analyzed for the case. After two mistrials, the jury found all five executives charged in the third trial not guilty. The DOJ also subsequently dropped its charges against four other executives in a related matter before the federal criminal trial was set to begin.

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About Analysis Group:
Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,000 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise.

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SOURCE Analysis Group