CRA assisted counsel to CVS Caremark (CVS) before, during, and after the FTC‘s review of CVS’s acquisition of Universal American’s prescription drug benefit business. In support of CVS’s pre-acquisition process, CRA calculated best-in-class rebate synergies on the basis of its review of each party’s contracts. During the FTC’s review of the proposed transaction, CRA analyzed the Medicare Part D competitive bidding process and developed analyses showing that the merger would not create incentives for the combined entity to raise its bids. Following the FTC’s unconditional approval of the transaction, CRA carried out a second round of synergy calculations, sharing these with the integration teams at CVS Caremark and Universal American.
Assessing umbrella pricing incentives
When collusive agreements involve a subset of firms in an industry, they may create the incentive and ability for firms that are not participants in the cartel...