CORNERSTONE RESEARCH Economic and Financial Consulting and Expert Testimony Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations In high-stakes mergers and acquisitions, clients require rigorous analysis to address complex competition issues. provides merging parties, third parties, and regulatory agencies with economic consulting at all stages, including prescreening, agency review, and litigation.
Featured Academic Experts John Asker > Timothy F. Bresnahan > Gautam Gowrisankaran > Aviv Nevo > Ariel Pakes > Gregory L. Rosston > Selected Consulting Staff Andrea Shepard > Michael D. Topper > Kostis Hatzitaskos > Çagatay Koç >
Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations INITIAL STAGES Merging parties often retain in the early phases of a merger or acquisition. Our experts and staff evaluate the competition risk of proposed transactions, efficiently prepare for regulatory review, and plan for data production. REGULATORY REVIEW AND LITIGATION During agency review or at the preliminary injunction stage, staff and experts apply economic theory and use empirical evidence to define relevant markets and assess unilateral and coordinated effects of a merger. The firm also evaluates merger-related efficiencies, the potential for entry, and the competitive effects of proposed divestitures. INDUSTRIES AND VENUES staff and affiliated experts have litigation and regulatory experience in a range of industries, including consumer products, distribution, energy, finance, healthcare, media, pharmaceuticals, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. The firm s merger review experts testify on competition matters before regulatory bodies and in venues in the United States and internationally. Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations 1
Featured Academic Expert John Asker Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles Senior Advisor, John Asker brings strong conceptual and empirical skills to competition matters. Harvard University, Ph.D. Australian National University, Bachelor of Economics (first class honors and University Medal) John Asker is an expert in antitrust and competition economics. He has testified as an expert witness and served as an economic consultant and advisor to federal and state regulatory agencies. Professor Asker served as an expert for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in the matter of the AT&T DirecTV merger. He has also evaluated proposed mergers and acquisitions on behalf of merging parties. Professor Asker conducts research related to antitrust policy, cartel behavior, vertical restraints, auction design, firm-level productivity, and the effects of industry subsidies. He also has expertise at the intersection of financial markets and antitrust. Professor Asker has coauthored several amicus briefs presented before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts. He has held editorial positions at several peer-reviewed journals and his research has been published in leading journals of economics. Professor Asker also regularly lectures on antitrust topics at U.S. federal agencies and legal conferences. He has been a visiting scholar at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission s Bureau of Economics, the Department of Economics at Harvard, and the Yale Law School. 2 Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations
Featured Academic Expert Timothy F. Bresnahan Landau Professor in Technology and the Economy, Stanford University Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice Senior Advisor, Timothy Bresnahan s knowledge of mergers and acquisitions is deepened by his tenure at the Antitrust Division as well as his experience as a testifying expert for merging parties. Princeton University, Ph.D. Princeton University, M.A. Haverford College, B.A. Timothy Bresnahan was deputy assistant attorney general and chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1999 to 2000. He has served as an economic expert in a variety of mergers involving leading technology firms, including Google s acquisitions of AdMob and ITA Software, Intel s acquisition of McAfee, and CoStar s acquisition of LoopNet. Professor Bresnahan provided court testimony in the FTC v. Sysco preliminary injunction hearing. Professor Bresnahan has also testified in numerous litigation matters involving liability, damages, and class certification. For example, he provided trial testimony in the bellwether consumer class action In re Whirlpool Front-Loading Washer Products Liability Litigation. He specializes in industrial organization, applied econometrics, and the economics of technology. His current research covers policyoriented topics such as competition in the personal computer business and the Internet, as well as technological and market sources of growth. He has coauthored several amicus briefs presented before the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Bresnahan has authored over one hundred scholarly publications. He is currently director of the Center on Employment and Economic Growth at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations 3
Featured Academic Expert Gautam Gowrisankaran Arizona Public Service Professor of Economics, University of Arizona Gautam Gowrisankaran is an experienced testifying expert on mergers and acquisitions with a particular focus on healthcare. Yale University, Ph.D. Yale University, M.A. Swarthmore College, B.A. Gautam Gowrisankaran is an expert on mergers and acquisitions and the economics of industrial organization. He has analyzed the competitive effects of mergers as an expert witness and/or consultant in several industries, including healthcare, transportation, hightechnology products, and foods. Professor Gowrisankaran has been deposed or submitted reports in competition matters before U.S. district courts, U.S. state courts, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Professor Gowrisankaran conducts both theoretical and empirical research in industrial organization and competition. A particular focus of his research is healthcare. The markets he has analyzed include hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations, and health insurance. Professor Gowrisankaran serves as an associate editor at several academic journals, including the American Economic Review, RAND Journal of Economics, the International Economic Review, and the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.. 4 Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations
Featured Academic Expert Aviv Nevo Robert E. and Emily King Professor in Business Institutions, Northwestern University Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice Senior Advisor, Aviv Nevo s tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice and his considerable academic research provide insight on mergers and other competition matters. Harvard University, Ph.D. Harvard University, A.M. Tel Aviv University, B.Sc. Aviv Nevo recently served as chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he advised on merger, as well as civil and criminal, investigations. He led the division s Economic Analysis Group of over sixty Ph.D. economists and statistical analysts. Professor Nevo has been retained as an expert by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and merging parties. He has also served as a testifying expert in antitrust litigation and other matters. His academic work lies at the intersection of industrial organization, marketing, and econometrics. Professor Nevo is a pioneer in using data to analyze consumer preferences and decision making. He publishes extensively on methods that can be used to assess market power and mergers, particularly in the context of differentiated products. His research includes studies of consumer packaged goods, retailing, real estate brokerages, healthcare, and telecommunications. Professor Nevo currently serves as a coeditor of the RAND Journal of Economics, is a fellow of the Econometric Society, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Professor Nevo was recently appointed as the University of Pennsylvania s 17th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, effective July 1, 2016. Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations 5
Featured Academic Expert Ariel Pakes Thomas Professor of Economics, Harvard University Senior Advisor, Ariel Pakes s research laid the foundation for simulation models used in merger analysis. Harvard University, Ph.D. Harvard University, M.A. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.A. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, B.A. Ariel Pakes is one of the leading authorities in the fields of industrial organization, technological change, and econometric modeling. He has served as an economic consultant and provided expert testimony in court and through depositions. In a large joint defense antitrust case, Professor Pakes recently testified before the judge on the reliability and appropriateness of a structural model that an opposing expert developed. In addition, he has done work for a number of consultancies, government agencies, and large corporations. Professor Pakes is recognized globally as a leader in industrial organization. He has spoken on competition issues before numerous international agencies, including the European Competition Commission; at conferences on several continents; and in the United States at the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Communications Commission. Professor Pakes conducts research on pricing, profits, consumer welfare, and productivity in numerous industries, including healthcare, automotive, personal computers, and telecommunications equipment. He has developed methods for analyzing market responses to changes in policy, business conditions, and market structure. Professor Pakes is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he edited the RAND Journal of Economics. 6 Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations
Featured Academic Expert Gregory L. Rosston Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, SIEPR, Director, Stanford Public Policy Program, Stanford University Former Deputy Chief Economist, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Gregory Rosston has consulted on major transactions undergoing antitrust review at the U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC. Stanford University, Ph.D. Stanford University, M.A. University of California, Berkeley, A.B. (honors) Gregory Rosston served as deputy chief economist at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), working on the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and helping to design and implement the first spectrum auctions in the United States. He returned to the FCC as a senior economist to assist the Commission with its analysis of competition issues in the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. In addition, Professor Rosston has consulted on major transactions undergoing antitrust review at the U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC, including Comcast NBCUniversal and Comcast Time Warner Cable. He has served as an expert for parties involved in various FCC regulatory proceedings, and has testified before the Commerce Committees of the U.S. Senate and House. Professor Rosston has testified as an expert witness on competition and telecommunications matters before U.S. federal and state courts and in international arbitration. Professor Rosston cochaired the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. He assisted the President s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology in 2011 and 2012. Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations 7
Selected Consulting Staff Andrea Shepard, an emeritus professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, coheads the antitrust and competition practice at. She specializes in directing competitive analyses for large, complex antitrust litigation and merger reviews. Andrea Shepard Senior Vice President, 415.229.8165 ashepard@cornerstone.com Dr. Shepard has worked on merger cases for the merging parties or for regulatory agencies. These mergers include Sysco US Foods, CoStar LoopNet, Google AdMob, Thoratec Heartware, Intel McAfee, and Cingular AT&T Wireless. She has represented parties at the reviewing agencies, and prepared white papers and expert testimony for hearings. Yale University, Ph.D. Indiana University, B.A. Michael Topper has served as an expert and submitted testimony in U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceedings involving mergers and acquisitions, including Comcast NBCUniversal and Comcast Time Warner Cable; and others involving mobile wireless competition, high-capacity transport services, and broadband Internet access. Michael D. Topper Senior Vice President, 650.470.7116 mtopper@cornerstone.com Dr. Topper also has consulted on non-litigation business and economic issues, including the regulatory review of mergers by U.S. agencies and the European Commission, regulatory proceedings before the FCC, and matters before the Copyright Royalty Board. Stanford University, Ph.D. Stanford University, M.A. Stanford University, M.S. University of Virginia, B.S. 8 Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations
Selected Consulting Staff Kostis Hatzitaskos Principal, 415.229.8205 khatzitaskos@cornerstone.com Kostis Hatzitaskos focuses on antitrust and competition matters, including merger reviews. He has worked on merger cases for the merging parties and for regulatory agencies. Dr. Hatzitaskos has worked with experts and counsel to prescreen potential transactions, prepare white papers for agency review, and develop expert testimony for preliminary injunction hearings. His merger review experience includes Intel McAfee, Sysco US Foods, and other matters involving high tech industries, mobile wireless, packaging products, and auto parts. University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, M.A. University of Warwick, B.Sc. Çagatay Koç has evaluated the competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions. He was a visiting scholar at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission from August 2008 to August 2010, where he served as the lead economist in assessing the competitive effects of the proposed combination of Novartis AG and Alcon Inc. in the vision care industry. Çagatay Koç Principal, 202.912.8978 ckoc@cornerstone.com Dr. Koç has also worked on cases for the merging parties in diverse industries, including consumer products, hospital services, and energy. This involved evaluating the mergers of Weston Foods Bestfoods Baking, Groupe Danone Stonyfield, and Phillips Petroleum Conoco, and analyzing the divestiture package to IMC that General Mills proposed in connection with its acquisition of Pillsbury. University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, M.S. Bogaziçi University, B.A. Economic Analysis and Merger Investigations page 9
About provides economic and financial consulting and expert testimony in all phases of complex litigation and regulatory proceedings. The firm works with an extensive network of prominent faculty and industry practitioners to identify the best-qualified expert for each assignment. has earned a reputation for consistent high quality and effectiveness by delivering rigorous, state-of-the-art analysis for over 25 years. The firm has 600 staff and offices in Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington. Boston 617.927.3000 Chicago 312.345.7300 London +44.20.3655.0900 Los Angeles 213.553.2500 New York 212.605.5000 San Francisco 415.229.8100 Silicon Valley 650.853.1660 Washington 202.912.8900 cornerstone.com 2016 by. All rights reserved. is a registered service mark of, Inc. C and design is a registered trademark of, Inc.