Tapestry-Capri Judge Cites Biden Deals Revamp in Halting Tie-Up

US antitrust agencies won important backing for a developing approach to competition enforcement in a federal court’s decision freezing a mega-combination in the fashion market.

The Thursday ruling, which paused Tapestry Inc.’s planned $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Ltd., included some support for the Biden administration’s 2023 overhaul of factors the antitrust enforcers use to regulate the mergers and acquisitions landscape.

Judge Jennifer L. Rochon of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said the guidance’s determinations on market concentration were convincing, creating a “strong presumption” that the deal seeking to place the Coach, Kate ...