17 June 2026 • 13 minute read

Inside Competition: June 2026

The latest in antitrust and competition law

Inside Competition is designed to help companies identify key legal developments in antitrust and competition law in the United States and beyond.

In addition to reporting on antitrust litigation and enforcement actions over the previous month, this bulletin addresses policy developments, regulatory trends, and agency priorities shaping competition law today.

Our goal is to provide insights that help businesses identify risk, respond to investigations, and compete in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Civil litigation

Brokerage files proposed class action against CoStar alleging monopolization of commercial real estate listing and information services. In One Real Estate LLC, dba The ONE Street Company v. CoStar Group, Inc., case number 1:26-cv-01735, filed May 20, 2026, the plaintiff alleged that CoStar maintained monopolies in commercial real estate listing and information services through exclusive dealing, acquisitions, copyright litigation, watermarking, data seeding, and technological restrictions that limited rivals’ access to listing content. The complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief on behalf of a proposed class of direct purchasers dating back to April 2022. The case follows recent litigation involving similar allegations by competitor CREXi, whose antitrust counterclaims were reinstated by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and left undisturbed when the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in March 2026.

Consumers file proposed class action against Lucky Strike over bowling center consolidation. In Doehr v. Lucky Strike Entertainment Corporation, et al., case number 2:26-cv-01535, filed May 6, 2026, the plaintiffs alleged that Lucky Strike, formerly Bowlero, unlawfully consolidated bowling centers through a series of acquisitions, including QubicaAMF, Brunswick, and Bowl America. According to the complaint, Lucky Strike acquired “dozens of independent bowling centers across the country” as part of a “multi-year anticompetitive scheme” to “drive up the cost of bowling” while reducing quality in local markets. The complaint asserts claims under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and various state laws. The plaintiffs seek damages, injunctive relief, and divestiture of certain acquired assets.

Criminal enforcement

DOJ investigates Texas Gulf Coast fertilizer plants over alleged market manipulation. On May 25, 2026, the Houston Chronicle reported that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) requested information from fertilizer companies about allegations of market manipulation, monopolization, and price gouging among fertilizer plants along the Texas Gulf Coast. The DOJ’s request for information follows reported price increases affecting the affordability of certain chemicals. In tandem, Congress is considering legislation to require greater disclosure of sales data in the fertilizer industry.

DOJ opposes motion to dismiss in Sherman Act bid-rigging prosecution of erosion control defendants. On May 22, 2026, the US filed a response in opposition to defendants BG Dale Biscoe, Randall David Shelton, and Sioux Erosion Control, Inc.’s joint motion to dismiss the indictment in United States v. Biscoe, case number CR-24-314-J. In Biscoe, the defendants are charged with conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for erosion control products and services in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In its response, the DOJ argued that the per se rule prohibiting price-fixing and bid-rigging is “a substantive rule of law, not a mere evidentiary shortcut,” and that the Sherman Act, as well as decades of binding precedent, provided clear notice that such conduct is unlawful. The DOJ further stated that the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has long treated price-fixing and bid-rigging as per se unreasonable restraints and referenced congressional action in 2020 describing such conduct as “categorically and irredeemably anticompetitive.”

Civil enforcement

Agri Stats to make significant changes to settle DOJ lawsuit. On May 7, 2026, Agri Stats and the DOJ Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement to resolve the DOJ’s lawsuit alleging unlawful information sharing among meat processors. The DOJ alleged that Agri Stats collected non-public information from competing meat processors on price, output, and costs and provided those companies with reports and other information that allowed those processors to align their decisions on price, output, and production. As part of the settlement, Agri Stats agreed to cease certain reporting practices, limit collection of most non-public sales data, and aggregate production and cost data in its reports. Agri Stats also agreed to limit reported information to historical data and expand access to its reports. The settlement may be relevant for companies engaging in benchmarking or data sharing following the DOJ’s withdrawal of the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors in 2024.

DOJ highlights growing use of AI and data analytics to detect collusion. Remarks delivered by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement Daniel Glad on May 14, 2026 reflect DOJ’s focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) and other data analytics tools to identify potential price-fixing, bid-rigging, and related collusive conduct. Glad stated that digital tools can leave more extensive records of pricing charges, data inputs, and bidding activity, noting: “Our detection does not diminish when conduct migrates to software. It grows.” The remarks also address how companies use algorithmic pricing and AI-enabled tools in their own businesses. According to Glad, “[s]oftware cannot launder collusion.” As such, companies are encouraged to ensure that compliance programs meaningfully address antitrust risks associated with pricing technologies, shared data inputs, and automated decision-making.

Merger review and challenges

FTC requires divestiture in 365 Retail–Cantaloupe micromarket kiosks deal. On May 1, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed consent order requiring 365 Retail Markets LLC – the nation’s largest provider of micromarket kiosks – to divest Cantaloupe Inc.’s Three Square Market business in order to complete its USD848 million acquisition of Cantaloupe. Under the proposed order, 365 Retail Markets is required to divest Three Square Market to Seaga Manufacturing Inc., establishing Seaga as a technology-enabled, vertically integrated competitor. In addition, 365 Retail Markets is required to offer integrations to customers and other third parties on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The order also requires the appointment of an independent compliance monitor and mandates that 365 Retail Markets provide advance notice to the FTC before acquiring any interest in any US micromarket kiosk company for a period of 10 years.

Senator Booker introduces CLEAN Mergers Act to unwind Trump-era merger approvals. On April 29, 2026, Senator Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, introduced the Correcting Lapsed Enforcement in Antitrust Norms for Mergers Act (CLEAN Mergers Act). The bill would require divestiture of any merger valued at USD10 billion or more consummated during the second Trump administration, unless the parties can demonstrate that the transaction did not reduce competition or harm consumers or workers. The CLEAN Mergers Act would also extend the statute of limitations for state Attorneys General to challenge mergers from four to ten years. The bill further directs federal agencies to re-examine mergers consummated during the given period for evidence of improper or politically influenced review.

DOJ requires divestitures in Taiheiyo/CalPortland–Vulcan ready-mix concrete acquisition. On May 21, 2026, the DOJ Antitrust Division announced a proposed settlement that would permit Taiheiyo Cement Corporation and its subsidiary, CalPortland Company, to proceed with their proposed USD712 million acquisition of ready-mix concrete assets from Vulcan Materials Company. The settlement requires Taiheiyo Cement Corporation to divest three ready-mix concrete plants and related assets to address competitive concerns arising from the transaction. DOJ Antitrust Division Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi stated that the Division’s pursuit of structural remedies “provides a signal to the broader market about how to structure transactions that deliver efficiency to the market while protecting competition that benefits consumers.”

International

European Union

Key updates in the draft EU Merger Guidelines. On April 30, 2026, the European Commission published its draft EU Merger Guidelines. The draft replaces the 2004 (horizontal) and 2008 (non- horizontal) rulebooks, consolidating the framework into a single document. The draft is currently open for public consultation, and stakeholders may submit comments before the European Commission finalizes the text later this year. What is new in practice:

Efficiencies are reflected in a formal “theory of benefit,” under which merging parties are expected to explain and evidence merger specific gains that actually reach customers
Dynamic outcomes – innovation, resilience, sustainability, and scale – are considered alongside price and quality
Guidance is provided for weighing risks and benefits using straightforward tools, including willingness to pay for non-price effects and net present value for timing, to reach a “more-likely-than- not” decision
Market shares and concentration are treated as starting points but are expressly not determinative, with greater emphasis placed on real-world evidence, such as switching, margins, barriers, access to data and standards, and ecosystem effects
Early engagement and evidentiary submissions are emphasized, with parties encouraged to engage at an earlier stage and provide ordinary-course documents and quantification to substantiate risks and benefits

European Commission opens in-depth foreign subsidies investigation into JD.com’s proposed acquisition of CECONOMY. On May 28, 2026, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) into JD.com’s proposed acquisition of CECONOMY, the German consumer electronics retailer behind MediaMarkt, MediaWorld, and Saturn. The Commission reports preliminary concerns that JD.com may have received foreign subsidies – including preferential financing, tax incentives, and grants potentially attributable to China – that could distort the EU internal market. The Commission will assess whether such subsidies may have enabled JD.com to offer more favorable acquisition conditions, including a potentially higher purchase price, and whether they could strengthen the merged entity’s competitive post-transaction position. The Commission now has until October 2, 2026 to adopt a decision, and, while the opening of the investigation does not prejudge the outcome, it underscores the Commission’s increasing use of the FSR to scrutinize foreign-backed acquisitions in the EU.

Germany

German Federal Court of Justice confirms limits to collective claims collection in cartel damages litigation. In its May 12, 2026 judgment, the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, or BGH) clarified the framework for so-called “collective claims collection” in follow-on cartel damages actions arising from the European Commission’s 2016 Trucks Cartel decision. The claimant, a litigation-funded claims collection vehicle, sought approximately EUR500 million, plus additional amounts in foreign currencies, from leading truck manufacturers based on assigned claims from originally 3,266 claimants across 21 countries relating to more than 70,000 truck transactions. The BGH held that cartel damages claims may, in principle, be bundled and pursued collectively by a registered claims collection service provider under the German Legal Services Act. However, it also held that courts must examine whether litigation funding arrangements create a structural conflict of interest and may require claims to be separated where the number, heterogeneity, and complexity of bundled claims make effective judicial review impracticable; non-compliance may result in dismissal for abuse of process. The judgment further indicates that collective claims must be structured in a manner that allows for effective judicial review and is consistent with the interests of the underlying claimants.

Italy

Cartel in the savory snacks sector: the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) finds an infringement and applies the settlement procedure for the first time. On April 15, 2026, the ICA imposed fines for over EUR23 million on Amica Chips, Pata, and Preziosi Food for participating in a restrictive horizontal agreement in violation of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in the Italian market for savory snacks. The ICA found that the three companies participated in a single, complex, and continuous market-sharing cartel lasting several years in relation to the supply of savory snacks manufactured for large-scale retailers and sold through their distribution network under private labels, by coordinating their respective commercial strategies. This is the first time the ICA has invoked the national settlement procedure introduced in 2022 and regulated by the amended Article 14-quater of Law No. 287 of October 10, 1990. All parties agreed to the settlement procedure, which resulted in a 10 percent reduction in the companies’ fines. Pata and Amica Chips also submitted leniency applications and were granted a further fine reduction.

Spain

Spanish CNMC hosts annual meeting of Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Authorities and adopts Madrid Declaration. In May 2026, the Spanish Competition Authority (CNMC), which is also the energy regulator in Spain, hosted the annual meeting of the Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Authorities (Asociación Iberoamericana de Entidades Reguladoras de la Energía, or ARIAE). Regulators from Ibero-American countries – along with Portuguese-speaking African regulators – discussed opportunities to enhance regulatory frameworks for integrating renewable energy into the electricity, natural gas, and liquid fuels sectors. Participants also adopted the Madrid Declaration, which is a document that encourages the independence of energy regulators and promotes a stable regulatory framework. The Declaration also highlights the importance of international cooperation and the need to strengthen technical training, digitalization, and cybersecurity in order to improve market functioning, boost energy efficiency, and protect vulnerable consumers.

CNMC closes proceeding against Naturgy concerning alleged discrimination of competitors. The CNMC has closed proceedings against Naturgy that were initiated in connection with alleged discriminatory treatment of its competitors in the management of technical incidents in the electricity distribution sector. In 2023, following complaints by several companies regarding potential anti-competitive practices, the CNMC conducted inspections at Naturgy's offices, which led to the initiation of two infringement proceedings: 1) an abuse of a dominant position, which resulted in a fine of EUR5.08 million and 2) the now-closed proceeding regarding a potential distortion of competition through alleged unfair practices. The CNMC did not identify evidence of discriminatory conduct by Naturgy indicating that it managed technical incidents differently for competing suppliers compared with those within its own group. The CNMC noted that Naturgy applied objective criteria, such as prioritizing requests based on submission date, and maintained service channels available to competing suppliers.