FTC Targets Private Equity In Challenge To Anesthesiology Roll-Ups

On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. (USAP) and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe XI L.P. (collectively, with other private equity fund defendants, "Welsh Carson"), among other private equity funds, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas under the antitrust laws. Specifically, the FTC alleges that USAP and Welsh Carson engaged in an anti-competitive scheme to consolidate anesthesia practices in Texas and to force other independent anesthesia groups into price-setting arrangements that violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act.

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