The Change Healthcare Decision and Implications for Private Equity Sponsors

Cleary Gottlieb – Antitrust enforcement agencies have recently asserted that private equity firms deserve heightened scrutiny when engaging in corporate transactions. However, in the recent Change Healthcare decision, the Court found that a proposed divestiture to a private equity sponsor would adequately preserve competition. Rejecting the DOJ’s arguments to the contrary, the Court found that the sponsor’s “incentives are geared towards preserving, and even improving, [the business’s] competitive edge.”