ANALYSIS: DOJ Alleges Bid-Rigging Twist in Merger Challenge

A recent Justice Department lawsuit seeking to bar Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.‘s pending purchase of rival EverWatch Corp. raises an interesting question: Can a merger agreement be anticompetitive even if the merger isn’t?

The DOJ’s June 29 complaint alleges that the merger is anticompetitive not only because it reduces future competition in government contracting, but also because it effectively ended competition on an important contract the National Security Agency was about to put out for bids.

Rather than write a competitive bid against a real threat to its dominance in providing modeling and simulation services to government ...