Divestiture OK’d in Private Antitrust Case in Novel Ruling (1)

A federal appeals court for first time Thursday ordered divestitures in an antitrust lawsuit brought by a private plaintiff, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected a bid by doormaker Jeld-Wen Inc. to salvage a key part of its merger with a rival.

The decision, which mostly upheld a ruling by a federal judge in Virginia, is the first by a circuit court to require unwinding a business deal in response to a private challenge, as opposed to a case brought by government regulators like the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department, or a state attorney ...