The DOJ’s expert economist Dr. Nicholas Hill resumed testifying on Tuesday (and continues again on Wednesday morning), discussing his prediction of harm if the merger goes through and being questioned on the accuracy of his models. Overall, Hill believes that the proposed mitigating factors—mainly the bidding pledge—are “unlikely to affect the anticompetitive effect of the transaction.” Hill’s reasons are built on qualitative evidence in the form of internal PRH and S&S emails. First, already “imprints can and do coordinate” before and during a bid. As an example, an email from the president of a PRH imprint said that bidding against […]
