DOJ Complaint Seeks to Halt CPI Acquisition of Earth Station Manufacturer GD SATCOM

On May 28, 2020, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division filed a complaint to enjoin Communications and Power Industries (CPI) from acquiring General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies (GD SATCOM) on the grounds that the acquisition would lessen competition. Both companies supply

large (four meters in diameter and above) ground station antennas for geostationary satellites (hereinafter “large geostationary satellite antennas”) for use by the United States military and commercial customers in the United States. Large geostationary satellite antennas are a key component of communications networks utilized by the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) as well as commercial customers, such as broadband internet suppliers, in areas that lack access to the main telecommunications grid.

DOJ argues that a merger would eliminate meaningful competitive alternatives:

Competition between CPI and GD SATCOM has led to lower prices, higher quality products, and innovative new solutions for large geostationary satellite antennas. The proposed merger would eliminate this competition and leave DoD and commercial customers without meaningful competitive alternatives, likely resulting in higher prices, lower quality, and diminished innovation in the development of these important products.

4.As a result, the proposed acquisition likely would substantially lessen competition in the market for the design, manufacture, and sale of large geostationary satellite antennas in the United States in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18.

You may read the whole complaint here.   The complaint touches on the national security concerns of both military and commercial customers when discussing the drawbacks of treating foreign suppliers as competition sufficient to keep prices down after a merger.