Ben is a partner in the Antitrust Group. He focuses on antitrust investigations and counseling, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice, and other competition authorities around the world. Ben helps acquirers, targets, prospective divestiture buyers and third-party clients navigate the antitrust regulatory clearance process.
Prior to private practice, Ben served for nearly 12 years at the FTC, most recently as Assistant Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. At the FTC, Ben served as lead investigator, manager and/or litigator on hundreds of matters, frequently collaborating with foreign antitrust agencies on cross-border transactions. Ben was also involved in the development of best practices for cross-border merger review and interagency cooperation.
As Assistant Director, Ben was the head of the FTC’s Mergers II Division, which oversees investigation and litigation in a wide range of industries, including chemicals, automotive, semiconductors, computer hardware and software, recorded music, tobacco, fertilizers and a variety of intermediate products. Ben had leading roles in numerous high-profile investigations and litigations, including Polypore; IDT/PLX; Ball/Rexam; Superior/Canexus; Broadcom/Brocade; Sherwin Williams/Valspar; Universal Music/EMI;A&P/Pathmark; and Western Digital/Hitachi.
Experience
- Chevron Corp. on several matters, including its:
- $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp.
- $7.6 billion acquisition of PDC Energy, Inc.
- $3.15 billion acquisition of Renewable Energy Group, Inc.
- $5 billion acquisition of Noble Energy Inc.
- acquisition of Beyond6, LLC
- F. Lehman & Company on its $1.2 billion acquisition of Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc.
- Atlas Holdings, LLC on the acquisition of USF Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries from The Gores Group
- EnCap Flatrock Midstream in the $1.45 billion sale of Lotus Midstream Operations, LLC to Energy Transfer LP
- Booz Allen in its victory over the DOJ’s attempt to block the $440 million acquisition of Ever Watch, obtaining a favorable decision denying the DOJ’s preliminary-injunction request, which allowed the merger to close and ultimately led DOJ to drop the case
- Raytheon on the U.S. and global merger control aspects of its $120 billion merger with United Technologies
- Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited in the $1.4 billion sale of its Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group and Pet health to JAB Holding Company
- Glatfelter Corporation in its $302 million acquisition of Jacob Holm and its acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s U.S. non-wovens business
- Qualtrics International in its $1.125 billion acquisition of Clarabridge, a leader in omnichannel conversational analytics
- Hitachi in its $9.5 billion acquisition of GlobalLogic Inc.
- GlobalLogic Inc. in its acquisition of Hexacta, a Pan-Latin-America data engineering company
- Texas Instruments Inc. in its $900 million acquisition of a 300-mm semiconductor factory in Lehi, Utah from Micron Technology, Inc.
- NIC Inc. in its $2.3 billion sale to Tyler Technologies Inc.
- Hitachi Energy in its acquisition of a controlling stake in eks Energy, a leading supplier of power electronics and energy management solutions for storage and renewables integration
- Tire Rack Holdings, Inc. and its stockholders in its sale to Discount Tire
Professional Affiliations and Thought Leadership
Ben frequently speaks and writes on competition issues. His notable contributions as co-author include:
- “Ninth circuit rules in favor of merging parties in Microsoft/Activision appeal,” The M&A Lawyer (2025)
- “European Union and United States: Antitrust and Data,” GDR Insight Handbook, Global Dispute Resolution (2020, 2021)
- “Edgewell/Harry’s: When a Maverick is More Than Its Market Share,” The M&A Lawyer (2020)
- “The FTC’s Consent Decree in the Staples/Essendant Deal Sets Playing Field for the New Commission’s Split on Antitrust Enforcement,” The M&A Lawyer (2019)
- “The Department of Defense’s Role in Merger Review,” Competition Policy International Antitrust Chronicle (2019)
- “What Does It Take to Settle a Merger Case?” FTC Competition Matters Blog (2016)
Ben is a frequent speaker at events hosted by the American Bar Association, International Competition Network and other organizations. He was a member of Law360’s 2022 Competition editorial advisory board.
