Opinion ID: 531046
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Ruling on the Merits Became Immaterial.

Text: 38 In finding that the Royal Crown litigation played a role in the failed transactions, the district court also relied on the fact that Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper could not have consummated their transaction until the court had ruled on the merits of Royal Crown's claims. (D.Ct. op. dated Jan. 16, 1987 at 7). While this statement is true, the district court failed to put this observation in context. First, this observation has no application to the PepsiCo/Seven-Up transaction because these parties had abandoned their acquisition before the TRO was extended and before a trial date was set. Second, once the July injunction was entered in favor of the FTC, the Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper transaction was effectively terminated. 39 The purposes of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act's notification procedures and subsequent waiting period are twofold. First, the information submitted pursuant to the statute is intended to provide the FTC with sufficient data for a preliminary determination of whether the proposed merger may violate the antitrust laws. Second, the procedure is intended to allow the FTC enough time to analyze the reported data and seek a preliminary injunction without the difficulties attendant upon unscrambling a consummated transaction. Once the FTC votes to oppose a merger, it will file an administrative complaint. While the complaint is being prepared, the FTC often seeks a judicial TRO or preliminary injunction to enjoin the transaction pending an administrative resolution on the merits. This injunctive relief, authorized by 15 U.S.C. Sec. 53(b), serves to avert post acquisition alterations which may make divestiture impractical or less effective and serves to undercut the economic incentives a firm might have to undertake the acquisition despite the odds that divestiture will eventually be ordered. Injunctions also create a significant impediment to the ultimate consummation of the merger. In order to obtain an injunction, the FTC need only show a likelihood of success on the merits and that the public equities justify such relief. In a practical sense, the granting of this injunction tolls the death knell for the challenged transaction because the parties to the merger usually cannot sustain its financial arrangements and terms for the period of years necessary for an administrative resolution. See ABA Antitrust Section, Monograph 5, the FTC as an Antitrust Enforcement Agency: Its Structure, Powers & Procedures 36, 73-74 & n. 273, Volume II (1981). 40 Because an FTC injunction indefinitely stalls an acquisition, once the FTC obtained such an injunction in this case, the existence of any other lawsuit challenging the propriety of the Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper acquisition became a redundancy. In context, the fact that Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper could not close before resolution on the merits of the Royal Crown litigation is irrelevant to the question of causation. A plaintiff may not collect attorney's fees for demanding of the defendant that which the defendant would have done in any case. Doe v. Busbee, 684 F.2d 1375, 1380 (11th Cir.1982) (in civil rights case, plaintiffs may not recover attorney's fees where suit merely demands a state officer to do what officer would have done in any case). 41