Biography

Jeff is a veteran antitrust enforcer and practitioner. During his tenure at the FTC, Jeff led and managed hundreds of significant merger matters, including investigations and challenges across virtually every industry overseen by the agency. As Assistant Director, Jeff headed the FTC’s Mergers IV Division, which oversees federal antitrust enforcement in a variety of industries, including supermarkets, retail stores, hospitals and other healthcare providers, food and beverage products, casinos, and a wide range of consumer products. He had leading roles in numerous high-profile investigations and litigations, including Office Depot/OfficeMax, ProMedica/St. Luke’s, OSF/Rockford Memorial, Kroger/Harris Teeter, Phoebe Putney/Palmyra, Pinnacle/Ameristar, Reading Hospital/Surgical Institute of Reading, and Whole Foods/Wild Oats. Jeff also worked closely with senior antitrust enforcement officials in several countries and State Attorneys General offices.
Prior to becoming Assistant Director, Jeff served in a number of important government positions, including Special Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, where he first-chaired more than 20 criminal trials, and Counsel to the Director of the Bureau of Competition at the FTC, where he oversaw merger and non-merger cases across a range of industries. Before being promoted to Assistant Director, he served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Bureau of Competition.
Jeff is recommended for Merger Control by Legal 500 US and recognized for Antitrust in Washington, D.C. by Chambers USA, where clients note he is “an incredibly strong lawyer,” and “extremely talented, knowledgeable and a great communicator.” Global Competition Review recognizes Jeff as a leading competition lawyer in its worldwide guide, Who’s Who Legal Competition 2020 and he is also named by Legal Media Group as one of the “Top 30 Competition and Antitrust Practitioners in the U.S.” in its 2020 edition of Best of the Best USA Expert Guides. Most recently, he was recognized as a top antitrust lawyer in the Best Lawyers in America guide for 2021. In 2017, Jeff was selected as an Antitrust “Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal. He was also recognized by The National Law Journal in 2014 as one of the “D.C. Rising Stars” — a list of 40 “game-changing” private, government and public interest advocacy attorneys aged 40 or under practicing in Washington, D.C.
Jeff is a regular lecturer on antitrust and business topics at The Antonin Scalia Law School and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Jeff is an active member of the antitrust bar and has served in various leadership positions of the Antitrust Section of the ABA, including as Vice Chair of the Pricing Conduct Committee.
Representative Matters
- Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Synthes in the acquisition of orthopedic company CrossRoads Extremity Systems.
- C&S Wholesale Grocers in connection with the Federal Trade Commission’s study under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act regarding the competitive impact of supply chain disruptions in consumer goods.
- 365 Retail Markets, a provider of self-service technologies and vending offerings, in its merger with Avanti Markets.
- ZoomInfo Technologies in its acquisition of Chorus.ai, a provider of conversational intelligence solutions.
- Core-Mark Holding Company, a wholesale distributor to the convenience retail industry, in its $2.5 billion sale to Performance Food Group.
- Ambassador Theatre Group in its acquisition of touring Broadway show theaters in San Francisco and Detroit.
- Meta (f/k/a Facebook) in its acquisition of Kustomer, a customer relationship management (CRM) company.
- TopGolf in its $2 billion merger of equals with Callaway Golf Company.
- CoStar Group in the antitrust aspects of its acquisition of Ten-X’s commercial real estate transaction platform.
- Fairway Group Holdings, an iconic New York supermarket chain, in the antitrust aspects of its chapter 11 cases.
- Willis Towers Watson PLC in the antitrust aspects of its proposed $80 billion combination with Aon PLC.
- Enverus in the antitrust aspects of its acquisition of RS Energy Group, a technology firm focused in the upstream oil & gas industry.
- Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in the antitrust aspects of its $90 million acquisition of interventional oncology assets from Boston Scientific.
- Willis Towers Watson in the $1.2 billion acquisition of TRANZACT, a direct-to-consumer health care organization that links individuals to U.S. insurance carriers.
- Belmond Ltd., an owner and operator of luxury hotels, tourist trains, a river cruise ship and restaurants, in the antitrust aspects of its pending $3.2 billion sale to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.
- Nexeo Solutions, Inc. in the antitrust aspects of its $2 billion sale to Univar Inc.
- BASF in its $11B acquisition of seed and herbicide businesses and assets pursuant to a DOJ antitrust consent decree in connection with Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto. At the time, BASF’s acquisition was the largest negotiated merger divestiture in the history of US antitrust enforcement.
- Bridgestone Americas in its joint venture with Goodyear to form a national tire distributor.
- CoStar Group, owner of Apartments.com, in the antitrust aspects of its $385 million acquisition of online apartment rental platform ForRent.com.
- Walgreens Boots Alliance in its acquisition of 1,932 Rite Aid stores and related assets, a transaction valued at $4.377 billion.
- DiscoverOrg and its PE sponsor TA Associates on the antitrust aspects of its acquisition of RainKing from Spectrum Equity.
- G & K Services, Inc. in its $2.2 billion merger with Cintas Corporation. Although the deal received a Second Request, it obtained unconditional clearance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
- Dean Foods in its acquisition of Friendly’s ice cream manufacturing and distribution business.
- WEX Inc., a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, in its $1.5 billion acquisition of Electronic Funds Source LLC. The deal received unconditional clearance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission despite the issuance of a Second Request.
- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P) in its chapter 11 case. As part of the chapter 11 plan, A&P sought to sell 120 stores to supermarket competitors, including Albertsons, Royal Ahold, and Key Food Stores. Weil secured prompt antitrust clearance from the FTC for the sale of A&P’s stores, relying in part on the rarely-successful failing firm defense.
- Willis Group Holdings in its merger with Towers Watson, a transaction valued at approximately $18 billion. The combined company will be named Willis Towers Watson and will create an integrated global advisory, brokering and solutions provider with approximately 39,000 employees in over 120 countries.
Awards and Recognition, Speaking Engagements, Latest Thinking, Firm News & Announcements
Awards and Recognition
- Weil Recognized in Global Competition Review's Matter of the Year for 2019 Award Brief — Global Competition Review Awards
- Jeff Perry Named 2017 Antitrust Trailblazer Award Brief — The National Law Journal
- Jeff Perry Recognized for Antitrust, District of Columbia Award Brief — Chambers USA
- Jeffery Perry Named a “Recommended” Lawyer for Merger Control in the U.S. Award Brief — Legal 500 US
- Jeff Perry “Recommended” Lawyer for Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions in the U.S. Award Brief — Legal 500 US
Speaking Engagements
-
Antitrust Enforcement and Analysis in the Healthcare Industry
Speaker(s):
Jeffrey H. Perry
November 9, 2021 — Philadelphia, PA — Lecture at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
-
Antitrust Merger Enforcement: Analysis and Strategy
Speaker(s):
Jeffrey H. Perry
September 20, 2021 — Lecture at the Antonin Scalia Law School
Latest Thinking
- DOJ Antitrust Division Issues New Guidance on Merger Remedies Alert — Antitrust/Competition — By Jeffrey H. Perry, Rob Meyer and Richard Flannery — PDF — September 08, 2020
- DOJ and FTC Issue New Vertical Merger Guidelines Alert — Antitrust/Competition — By Steven K. Bernstein, Jeffrey H. Perry and Alison Finneran — PDF — July 08, 2020
- DOJ and FTC Announce New Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines Alert — Antitrust/Competition — By Jeffrey H. Perry and Sarah Bartels — PDF — January 15, 2020
- Jeffrey Perry Talks to The Deal About Hospital Mergers Under Obamacare Interviewed In — Despite rumors to the contrary, hospital mergers are still possible under Obamacare – The Deal Pipeline — May 15, 2015
- Effective Defenses of Hospital Mergers in Concentrated Markets Publication — Antitrust, Vol 27, No. 2 — By Jeffrey H. Perry — PDF — Spring 2013
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Advised Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. in its $2.5B Sale to Performance Food Group Company Deal Brief — September 01, 2021
- Weil Advised Willis Towers Watson in its Proposed $80B Combination with Aon Firm Announcement — July 26, 2021