Evonik-PeroxyChem merger
Nicholas Hill was retained as the expert witness to address claims by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the merger between Evonik and PeroxyChem, two manufacturers of hydrogen peroxide, would limit competition in certain US regions and increase the likelihood of coordination between suppliers. Dr. Hill submitted an expert report, provided deposition testimony, and testified in court. His analysis and testimony were critical in the judge’s ruling in favor of the merging parties. In particular, the judge ruled that because supply-side substitution (“swinging”) was unlikely, the FTC’s market definition was fatally flawed. The judge wrote, “In fact, Defendants’ expert, Dr. Nicholas Hill, persuasively testified that a supplier’s … ‘strategic decision to sell more of one of its products and less of another . . . in one direction’—is not swinging under the Guidelines.”