Compass Lexecon Client Centre Lane Partners Defeats Injunction Seeking to Prevent Business Relocation

Centre Lane Partners (CLP), a private equity firm that owns Anchor Hocking, acquired Corelle Brands out of bankruptcy. The acquisition included a 130-year-old glass manufacturing plant in Charleroi, PA that manufactures Pyrex. As part of the acquisition, CLP planned to close the glass plant and relocate its operations to an Anchor Hocking facility in Ohio. On October 31, 2024, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Attorney General (the PA AG) filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (the Court), alleging that CLP was eliminating competition through its acquisition of Corelle Brands and the planned closure of its plant in Charleroi, PA. The PA AG sought to enjoin CLP from closing the Charleroi plant and any action to combine Pyrex and Anchor Hocking.

CLP’s Counsel, Jones Day, retained Compass Lexecon and Dr. Loren K. Smith, to analyze, among other things, relevant markets and the presumptive anticompetitive effects alleged by the PA AG in the complaint and the affidavits filed by its Chief Economist. Dr. Smith submitted a declaration of his economic analysis to the Court on November 10, 2024.

Initially, the Court granted a temporary restraining order to halt CLP’s actions at the Charleroi plant and then held a hearing on the injunction motion on November 12, 2024. Two days later, the Court issued a 20-page ruling denying the PA AG’s motion to enjoin CLP, because “there [was] simply insufficient evidence presented” to show that the Charleroi plant actions would be anticompetitive.

To support its conclusion, the Court relied on Dr. Smith’s analysis and testimony during the hearing. In particular, the Court stated, “[the] Defendants’ expert, Dr. Loren Smith, offers some compelling evidence” that “casts doubt on the Commonwealth’s claim” of a narrowly defined relevant market, and agrees with Dr. Smith that the PA AG’s Chief Economist’s relevant market definition is “problematic” and “not reliable.”

Dr. Smith was supported by a team led by Jonathan Orszag, Jason Wu, and Meade Atkeson that included Chris Rybak, Jaewon Lee, Noah Harrigan, Lauren Lau, Ruchika Roy, Meghan Oldfield, and Jiwoo Yoon. Compass Lexecon worked with John M. Majoras, Aaron M. Healey, Margaret C. Gleason, Margaret (Peggy) A. Ward, Michael H. Knight, and Peter Constable Alter of Jones Day who successfully represented CLP.