Hello there, welcome back. It's great to be with you again. This is your weekly dose of regulatory affairs with Emlex Market Insight. My name is James Panicki. I'm Emlex's Asia Pacific Senior Editor. Today we return to an

Emlex favorite Remedies. Now the backdrop is that Swedish conglomerate Asarabloy wants to buy the

hardware and home improvement division of Spectrum Brands. Spectrum Brands, of course, is the

US Diversified Company that manufactures home appliances

such as Remington, Blackendekker and others. So far so good. Then last year, the US Department

of Justice sued to block the deal, saying that it would harm competition and raise prices,

and that is also clear enough. Next up, Asser Abloy offered to divest parts of its own operation,

confident that the competition problems identified by the DOJ would then be swept away.

Now, a divestiture offer is nothing unusual.

We've talked about structural remedies a gazillion times on this very podcast. But here's where it gets

interesting. The companies took the divestiture straight to the courts, and the tactic was to

effectively sidestep what's seen as the DOJ's hard line to remedies under the Biden administration.

And it may all come down to the burden of proof and a ruling last year

by a US district judge by the name of Carl Nichols. Seraphina Smith covers mergers and acquisitions

for MLEX from New York, New York, and she joins me now to talk us through all of this.

Firstly, Serafina, what do we need to know about this lawsuit?

So the DOJ is suing ASA Abloy, which is a Swedish manufacturer over its proposed acquisition

of the hardware and home improvement division of Spectrum brands. And the DOJ is alleging that

the merger could result in increased prices for smart locks and premium door hardware.

And what's interesting about this case is that the DOJ filed a complaint to block the deal in September.

And in December, ASA Abloy announced that it would divest two of its divisions, MTech and Smart Residential,

which are two of its brands that manufacture

...