Clifford Chance
Tuna Tales: The Antitrust Tsunami
6 February 2020
Most everyone ensures their house is clean before inviting others in. That concept applies equally to a party contemplating a strategic transaction, the prospect of which will invite the government of one or more jurisdictions to visit each party’s corporate “house.” As the below-described events portray, an unclean house—one beset with compliance failures such as cartel conduct that violate the antitrust laws—can quickly turn the tide on a pending transaction and instead leave parties to the would-be deal faced with exposure to criminal penalties, prison time for executives, the inability to sell unwanted assets, diminution of corporate value (indeed, including bankruptcy), and significant business disruption.
