CRA economists advised counsel to Norbord, an oriented strand board manufacturer, throughout the Department of Justice (DOJ) review of its acquisition of Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. The DOJ cleared the merger unconditionally, just a few months after announcing its intentions to challenge a similar transaction in the same industry.
New vertical merger test
In vertical mergers, antitrust agencies often focus on the merging firms’ incentives to foreclose inputs to rivals when analyzing competitive effects. Less...