In the News: Leo Tyree Discusses Labor Market Competition in M&A Due Diligence for Bloomberg Law

Constangy attorney Leo Tyree authored a Bloomberg Law article examining the growing importance of labor market competition in merger and acquisition due diligence.

In the article, Leo explains that recent merger enforcement activity involving union grocery workers, home-health nurses, and temporary healthcare workers demonstrates how transactions may face scrutiny not only for their effects on product or service markets, but also for their potential impact on competition for workers. She encourages employment counsel to identify transactions that may reduce meaningful employment options for particular groups of workers and to involve antitrust counsel when the circumstances warrant further analysis.

Leo outlines a worker-choice screening approach that focuses on whether workers have a limited number of realistic employers, whether the parties meaningfully compete with one another for those workers, and whether the proposed transaction could eliminate or weaken an employment option workers realistically use. She also discusses the importance of examining restrictive covenants and no-hire or no-poach provisions, appropriately protecting compensation and recruiting data during diligence, and evaluating integration plans before closing.

Drawing on recent federal merger enforcement developments, Leo notes that labor market theories can affect investigations, litigation, potential remedies, and transactions themselves. She concludes that employment counsel can play an important role in recognizing when information uncovered during employment diligence may signal a broader competition concern.

To read the full article online, click here.