A partner in the Antitrust Department, Charles Crandall advises clients on antitrust issues arising in connection with mergers and acquisitions, government investigations, and litigation. He focuses on complex merger control matters involving private equity and sponsor-side transactions, including cross-border acquisitions, take-private transactions, and joint ventures subject to U.S. and international merger review.
Charles represents clients before the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, and state antitrust authorities. He regularly advises on transactions subject to extended merger review, including second requests, and negotiated remedies and divestiture settlements. He counsels clients through all stages of the transaction lifecycle, including antitrust risk assessment, deal protection terms, and regulatory clearance strategy for significant and time-sensitive transactions.
He also advises on antitrust compliance and counseling matters, including competitor collaborations, unilateral conduct, pricing and distribution issues, and interlocking directorates, providing practical and commercial guidance on both strategic and day-to-day antitrust issues.
Charles has significant experience in high-stakes merger litigation, including representing Sprint in defense of its merger with T-Mobile at trial in a lawsuit brought by state attorneys general, and EnergySolutions at trial defending against a challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice to block its proposed acquisition of Waste Control Specialists (each prior to joining the firm).
Charles has experience across a broad range of industries, including technology, telecommunications, agriculture, energy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, consumer goods, sports, entertainment, and professional services.
Significant recent representations include:
- Apollo Global Management, funds managed by affiliates of Apollo and their portfolio, including:
- its $6.3 billion acquisition of International Game Technology’s gaming and digital business IGT Gaming and Everi Holdings;
- the £1.83 billion acquisition by ABC Technologies of TI Fluid Systems;
- its approximately $1.5 billion acquisition of Bridge Investment Group Holdings, a Utah-based residential and industrial real estate investment management company;
- its acquisition of Kelvion, a German provider of energy efficient heat exchange and cooling solutions, from funds advised by Triton;
- its $3.7 billion acquisition of Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited, a global leader in architectural, automotive and technical glass;
- their over $1 billion acquisition of a majority stake in OEG Energy Group;
- its acquisition of Trace3, a California-based digital transformation and IT solutions provider with expertise in artificial intelligence, cloud, security, data and analytics, from American Securities;
- its strategic minority equity investment in Charles Monat Associates, a Singapore-based consultant for wealth transfer liquidity solutions; and
- an investment of $11 billion to acquire from Intel Corporation a 49% equity interest in a joint venture entity related to Intel’s Fab 34.
- New Home Co., a homebuilder and portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, in its $1.2 billion take-private acquisition of Landsea Homes, a residential homebuilder.
- Novolex, a developer and manufacturer of foodservice packaging products, supported by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, its majority shareholder, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in its $6.7 billion take-private acquisition of Pactiv Evergreen, a manufacturer and distributor of foodservice and food merchandizing products and beverage cartons.
