13 April 2026 • 8 minute read

Inside Competition: April 2026

The latest in antitrust and competition law

Inside Competition is designed to help companies identify key legal developments in antitrust and competition law in the United States.

In addition to reporting on antitrust litigation and enforcement actions over the previous month, this bulletin addresses policy developments, regulatory trends, and agency priorities shaping competition law today.

Our goal is to provide insights that help businesses identify risk, respond to investigations, and compete in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Civil litigation

Agri Stats agrees to stop or substantially reform benchmarking reports as part of proposed settlements in chicken, turkey, and pork price-fixing litigation. In three cases – In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, 1:16-cv-08637 (N.D. Ill.); In re Turkey Antitrust Litigation, 19:cv:08318 (N.D. Ill.); and In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, 0:18-cv-01776 (D. Minn.) – plaintiffs filed motions for preliminary approval of proposed settlements with Agri Stats and, in the pork case, Triumph Foods. The settlements, filed on March 31, 2026, include what the plaintiffs' counsel describe as "unprecedented conduct relief." Agri Stats has agreed to a significant amount of conduct reform, including retaining an experienced outside attorney with antitrust compliance responsibility, removing all participant lists and flags in reports, and ceasing publication of any and all sales reports. These are among the final settlements in the three long-running antitrust class actions, which allege that Agri Stats facilitated a conspiracy among the nation's largest meat processors to stabilize prices and control supply in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act by providing paid subscribers with detailed, competitively sensitive benchmarking data beginning in 2009.

Hotel guests petition US Supreme Court to review Ninth Circuit's dismissal of algorithmic pricing antitrust claims. In Gibson, et al. v. Cendyn Group, LLC, et al., 24-3576, the plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on March 11, 2026, seeking review of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's decision affirming the dismissal of a putative class action. The plaintiffs alleged that Las Vegas casino-hotel operators used algorithmic pricing software from Cendyn Group, LLC to inflate hotel room rates on the Las Vegas Strip. The Ninth Circuit held that the individual software licensing agreements between Cendyn and the hotels did not restrain trade – because the software's pricing outputs were non-binding recommendations – and dismissed the claims without applying the rule of reason. The petition argues that this ruling creates a categorical exemption from Section 1 of the Sherman Act for vertical licensing agreements involving algorithmic pricing software that do not expressly compel adherence to the software's recommendations, conflicting with prior holdings that all contracts restrain trade to some degree and must be evaluated under the rule of reason based on their actual competitive effects.

Court dismisses antitrust complaint against Google on standing, monopoly power, and tying grounds. In Helena World Chronicle, LLC et al. v. Google, LLC, et al., case number 23-cv-03677, the court granted Google’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint. The publisher plaintiffs alleged Google leveraged its power in the general search services market to monopolize the online news market, effectively becoming “America’s largest news publisher.” The court found that the plaintiffs did not plausibly demonstrate 1) antitrust standing in the general search services market, 2) Google’s alleged monopoly power in the online news market, and 3) a valid tying claim. The decision is notable for its treatment of AI adjacent product design and the pleading burden for tying/foreclosure narratives in markets adjacent to “general search.”

Criminal enforcement

New DOJ antitrust leader signals individual prosecutions and meaningful sentences are cornerstones of effective antitrust deterrence. Daniel Glad, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement at the US Department of Justice (DOJ), delivered a keynote on March 3, 2026 highlighting a significant increase in US criminal antitrust enforcement. The Division opened nearly 100 new criminal investigations in Fiscal Year 2025, a 24-percent increase year over year. Total prison days imposed rose by more than 1200 percent. Glad said that the interagency Procurement Collusion Strike Force has opened more than 195 investigations, secured 75 guilty pleas and trial convictions, and recovered more than USD70 million in fines and restitution since its founding. Glad also highlighted the DOJ’s Whistleblower Rewards Program, saying it has generated a surge in credible whistleblower submissions that prosecutors are working quickly to develop in chargeable cases. Glad said the DOJ’s Antitrust Division is “laser focused” on holding individuals – not just corporations – accountable, through its escalated prosecution strategy.

DOJ probing fertilizer market for potential price fixing. The DOJ is investigating whether US fertilizer producers colluded to raise prices, with the probe focusing on both civil and criminal antitrust violations. The investigation, which reflects bipartisan concern about market concentration increasing costs for farmers, remains in its early stages. No companies have been formally accused of wrongdoing.

Storage sales company owner pleads guilty to bid rigging for US Air Force healthcare projects. On March 18, 2026, a storage sales company owner pleaded guilty to two felony counts for conspiring to rig bids and defraud the US Department of War. The conspirators submitted collusive bids for four healthcare-related projects that totaled more than USD1.6 million and were funded through the Defense Logistics Agency’s Facilities Maintenance, Repair, and Operations Program. The guilty plea occurred amid an ongoing effort to investigate bid rigging and fraud impacting US domestic military facilities.

Civil enforcement

DOJ settles Live Nation–Ticketmaster antitrust case mid-trial. On March 9, 2026, the DOJ reached a settlement with Live Nation Entertainment during the first week of the landmark antitrust trial in New York federal court. Under the agreement, Live Nation will pay approximately USD280 million in civil penalties to participating states, divest at least 13 amphitheaters, cap Ticketmaster service fees at 15 percent, and open its ticketing platform to third-party sellers such as SeatGeek and Eventbrite. However, more than 30 state attorneys general – led by New York Attorney General Letitia James – rejected the settlement as insufficient and continued litigating the case. By late March, the states had largely finished presenting their case. As of April 7, 2026, the state-led trial appeared to be nearing closing arguments, with no final verdict yet.

FTC stops proposed merger of leading cataract surgery device makers. On March 17, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Alcon, Inc. abandoned its proposed acquisition of LENSAR, Inc. after the agency’s Bureau of Competition identified substantial competitive concerns with the transaction. The deal would have combined two significant players in the market for femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) systems, potentially raising prices and reducing innovation for surgeons and millions of US patients. FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera stated that the investigation “produced evidence of consumer harm so substantial that the merging firms threw up a white flag rather than risk facing the FTC in court.” The FTC noted that Alcon and LENSAR had engaged in a price war that benefited doctors and patients and that their competition spurred innovation in the FLACS market. The action reflects the FTC’s continued “laser focus” on healthcare, with the agency also signaling heightened scrutiny of pharmaceutical mergers as numerous blockbuster drugs approach patent expiration.

FTC Chairman Ferguson launches Healthcare Task Force. On March 20, 2026, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson directed FTC staff to form a Healthcare Task Force that will take a coordinated, integrated approach to healthcare enforcement and advocacy to protect US patients, healthcare workers, and taxpayers. The task force will bring together the FTC’s Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection, and Economics, along with the Office of Policy Planning and Office of Technology, to lead focused enforcement initiatives, devise coordinated investigation strategies, and identify emerging issues for enforcement. The task force will also seek to expand its membership to include other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the DOJ. Companies in the healthcare sector are encouraged to take note of this cross-bureau enforcement effort as the FTC continues to prioritize competition and consumer protection in healthcare markets.

Merger review and challenges

Nexstar–Tegna merger cleared by federal regulators, immediately challenged in court. On March 19, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and DOJ approved Nexstar's USD6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna. To permit the deal, the FCC waived the National Television Ownership Rule that caps a single company's reach at 39 percent of US households. Following the merger, Nexstar will reach an estimated 54.5 percent of US TV households that have a discount related to ultra-high frequency (UHF) – in which only half of households reached by a UHF are counted – or 80 percent without the UHF discount. The next day, eight states filed an emergency motion to block the merger and DIRECTV filed a separate antitrust suit, both of which have since been consolidated. On March 27, 2026, the US District Court for the Eastern District of California granted DIRECTV's request for a temporary restraining order, finding the merger “presumed likely to violate the antitrust laws” because it would give Nexstar more than 30-percent market share in 31 local markets. The order requires Nexstar to operate Tegna as a separate business, maintain firewalls between the companies, and preserve existing distributor and network affiliate relationships. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for April 7, 2026.

International

UK enforcement authorities signal focus on algorithmic collusion. The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to prioritize investigations into algorithmic collusion after pledging in its 2026–2027 business plan “to actively scan the market for signs of unlawful activity, ready to take enforcement action where we see evidence of collusion.” The publication of the 2026–2027 business plans followed the CMA’s announcement on March 2, 2026 of its investigation into algorithmic pricing, as well as the CMA’s publication on March 4, 2026 of a blog post warning that untransparent dynamic pricing and algorithmic collusion may lead to competition law infringements.

CJEU to rule on whether related asset swaps must be treated as a single concentration under the EU Merger Resolution. On March 19, 2026, the CJEU dismissed appeals brought by several German municipal authorities and confirmed the European Commission’s approval of E.ON’s acquisition of Innogy’s distribution and retail energy business, as well as certain generation assets. The court also confirmed that the broader, multi-step asset swap announced in 2018 – which spans three separate concentrations in terms of merger control – did not have to be treated as a single concentration for EU merger control purposes.