Jeffrey Ayer

Partner Antitrust & Competition

Washington, D.C. +1 202 389 5097

Jeffrey Ayer

Overview

Jeff is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Jeff’s practice focuses on a wide range of antitrust matters, including securing antitrust clearance for complex transactions, antitrust litigation, antitrust counseling and government investigations.

Jeff has obtained antitrust clearance for numerous transactions, litigated cases in state and federal court, and represented clients in civil investigations before the U.S. antitrust agencies. His practice includes counseling on proposed transactions and joint ventures, distribution practices and Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filing requirements.

With many transactions triggering both U.S. and foreign filings, Jeff has worked closely with local counsel in securing clearance in jurisdictions worldwide. He has also represented clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission in merger reviews and investigations of alleged anticompetitive conduct.

Since joining Kirkland, Jeff's representative matters have included:

  • HGGC in its $240 million joint investment in Fullscript with Snapdragon Capital Partners.
  • Amer Sports, along with its investor consortium, in its $420 million sale of Amer’s Precor division to Peloton.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb in its $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia.
  • The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Taubman Centers, Inc. in Taubman’s $9.8 billion merger and joint venture with Simon Property Group.
  • GlaxoSmithKline in its acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business.
  • Fortive Corporation in Industrial Scientific’s $570 million acquisition of Intelex Technologies.
  • WellCare Health Plans in its $17.3 billion acquisition by Centene Corporation.
  • Boeing in its $4.2 billion acquisition of KLX Inc., a provider of aviation parts and services.
  • Boeing in its acquisition of Millennium Space Systems, a developer and manufacturer of military satellites.
  • Fortive Corporation for its $770 million acquisition of Landauer, a provider of radiation safety and outsourced medical physics.
  • Secured U.S. antitrust clearance for the merger of SSI and Research Now, two leading leading providers of online panel data.
  • WellCare Health Plans to secure antitrust clearance for its $2.5 billion acquisition of Meridian Health Plans.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Jeff’s representative matters included:

  • Regal Entertainment Group in state and federal antitrust litigation brought by competing theatre owners.

  • U.S. antitrust clearance for the combination of the two largest Bible publishers in the United States.

  • Qwest in its merger with CenturyLink.

  • Mayne Pharma Ltd. in its acquisition by Hospira Inc.

  • Regal Entertainment in several transactions in the movie theater industry, including Regal's merger with United Artists Theatre Company, and its acquisitions of Edwards Theatres, Signature Theatres, Eastern Federal Theatres, and Consolidated Theatres.

  • As part of the district court and appellate litigation teams in United States v. LSL Biotechnologies, Inc., Jeff helped convince the district court to dismiss, and the appellate court to affirm the dismissal of, the government's case on the grounds that U.S. courts lacked jurisdiction under the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act.

  • Represented a client before the Antitrust Division in a market allocation investigation that had been handled by another firm for three years, helping to persuade the Antitrust Division in less than six months to close its investigation with no enforcement action.

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Recognition

Recognized for Antitrust: Merger Control by The Legal 500 United States, 2019

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • District of Columbia

Education

  • University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of LawJ.D.summa cum laude1995

    Managing Editor, Arizona Law Review

  • Rice UniversityB.A.1991