Scott A. Scheele
Overview
Scott Scheele is a partner in the Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in the Washington, D.C., office of Golden Flag International Law Firm Scott has more than 30 years of experience, including serving as a senior executive and supervisor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Through his combination of public sector and private practice experience, Scott offers a deep understanding of government enforcement priorities and practical approaches to achieving client objectives. His practice focuses on a wide range of antitrust matters including federal and state government review of mergers and acquisitions, civil litigation, government investigations and compliance counseling. Scott represents clients across a broad range of industries before the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission. He has successfully handled high-profile matters involving the media, telecommunications, enterprise and application software, information technology, entertainment, industrial processing, midstream pipeline, home building products distribution and the financial services industries.
Scott spent nine years as the Chief of the Media, Entertainment and Communications Section of the Antitrust Division, and in that capacity supervised all merger and civil conduct investigations and implemented competition policy in the areas of wireless and wireline telecommunications, media and entertainment. Before that, he spent eight years as the Assistant Chief of the Networks & Technology Enforcement Section. Scott joined the Antitrust Division in 1995, after five years as an associate with Howrey & Simon.
Experience
Representative Matters
Since joining Golden Flag, Scott has been involved in the following matters:
- AE Industrial Partners in its acquisition of Calca Solutions, a provider of hydrazine, from Arxada.
- AE Industrial Partners-backed American Pacific, a provider of additives used in solid rocket motors, in its $700 million sale to NewMarket.
- Aon in its pending sale of The Townsend Group, a provider of global real estate and real asset investment advisory services, to The Riverside Company, Bluerock Capital Markets, MLC Private Equity and Ten Capital Management.
- Blackstone and Vista Equity-backed Energy Exemplar in its acquisition of Adapt2 Solutions, a provider of power market operations solutions.
- Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in their acquisition of Energy Exemplar, a provider of energy market simulation software, from The Riverside Company.
- Blackstone in its growth investment in Salas O’Brien, a provider of engineering and technical services.
- Braemont Capital in its acquisition of Loenbro, a provider of technical services to data center, infrastructure and industrial markets, from Tailwind Capital.
- Charter Communications in its $900 million joint venture with Comcast Corp.
- Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in its $835 million acquisition of Main Event, a family entertainment concept with 50 locations in the U.S., from Ardent Leisure Group and RedBird Capital.
- Sentinel Capital Partners-backed ECM Industries, a manufacturer and supplier of electrical products, in its $1.1 billion sale to nVent Electric.
- EQT in EQT Infrastructure VI Fund’s joint venture with T-Mobile to acquire Lumos, a provider of fiber optic internet, from EQT Infrastructure III Fund.
- Gallatin Point Capital in its partnership with American Family Insurance and in the $1.25 billion investment in TRUE, a reciprocal insurer.
- Growth Catalyst Partners in its sale of The Stable, a consumer brand agency, to Accenture.
- Dunes Point Capital in the sale of Harvey Building Products, a provider of windows and doors for the residential repair and remodel sector, to Cornerstone Building Brands.
- Fortune Brands as divestiture buyer in DOJ lawsuit challenging ASSA ABLOY’s $4.3 billion acquisition of Spectrum Brands’ HHI division.
- Hg Capital, in its strategic investment in CINC Systems.
- I Squared Capital in the joint venture between I Squared Capital-backed ISQ Whistler Holdings, Enbridge and MPLX to combine the Whistler Pipeline and Rio Bravo Pipeline project.
- Industrial Growth Partners-backed ASPEQ Heating Group, a provider of electrical heating solutions, in its $418 million sale to SPX Technologies.
- JBT Corporation in its pending €3.5 billion acquisition of Marel.
- KKR-backed PlayOn! Sports in its merger with rSchoolToday, a software and digital content provider for athletic administrators.
- Macquarie Infrastructure Partners-backed Lagoon Operating - Midland, a produced water pipeline transportation, disposal and reuse company, in its sale to Deep Blue Midland Basin.
- Macquarie Capital Principal Finance in its acquisition of Camin Cargo, a provider of independent testing, inspection and certification (TIC) services, from Metalmark Capital Partners.
- Old Republic in the $140 million sale of its Mortgage Insurance Business to Arch Capital Group.
- Oracle Corporation in its acquisition of EHR company Cerner for $28.3 billion.
- BC Partners on the sale of a minority stake in PetSmart, a provider of pet products and services, to Apollo.
- R1 RCM in its $4.1 billion acquisition of Cloudmed, a provider of Revenue Intelligence solutions for healthcare providers, from New Mountain Capital.
- Sumeru Equity Partners and Vitruvian Partners-backed Snow Software, a provider of technology intelligence solutions, in its sale to Flexera.
- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners-backed TRC Healthcare in its sale to Colibri Group.
- Transom Capital Group in the sale of Mackie, a manufacturer of professional audio products, to RODE Microphones.
- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in the sale of Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a franchisor of fast casual restaurants, to Blackstone
- Harren Equity Partners-backed Velosio in its sale to Court Square Capital Partners.
- Harren Equity Partners-backed Virginia Tile Company in its sale to Galleher.
- A global media and entertainment company in connection with ESPN’s strategic partnership with the XFL.
Prior to joining Golden Flag, Scott’s significant public investigations and cases involved:
- United States v. Liberty Latin America/AT&T (D.D.C. 2020). Complaint and settlement of Liberty’s $2 billion acquisition of AT&T’s wireless and wireline telecommunications business in Puerto Rico.
- United States v. T-Mobile/Sprint (D.D.C. 2019). Investigation of $26 billion merger of two national wireless carriers that resulted in a complaint and settlement through consent decree.
- United States v. AT&T/Time Warner (D.D.C. 2017). Extensive investigation and contested trial seeking to block the $100 billion vertical merger of the country’s largest video distributor (DirectTV) with a large content provider (Time Warner).
- United States v. CenturyLink/Level 3 (D.D.C. 2017). Complaint and settlement of CenturyLink’s $34 billion acquisition of Level 3’s telecommunications business.
- United States v. AT&T (C.D. Cal. 2016). Contested Sherman Act Section 1 litigation alleging information sharing among video distribution competitors regarding their intentions to distribute the Los Angeles Dodgers regional sports network. Shortly after briefing of AT&T’s motion to dismiss, the case was settled through a consent decree that obtained all relief sought in the Government’s prayer for relief.
- United States v. Charter/Time Warner Cable (D.D.C. 2016). Complaint and settlement of Charter Communication’s $90 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.
- Comcast/Time Warner Cable (2015). Investigation of Comcast’s proposed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable – two incumbent cable providers that did not have overlapping territories. Comcast abandoned the merger.
- United States v. Sinclair/Perpetual (D.D.C. 2014). Complaint and settlement requiring divestiture of television station filed in connection with a nearly $1 billion acquisition.
- United States v. Gannett/Belo (D.D.C. 2013). Complaint and settlement requiring divestiture of television station filed in connection with a $2.2 billion acquisition.
- United States v. eBay (N.D. Cal. 2012). Contested complaint alleging a no-solicit and no-hiring agreement between eBay and Intuit. eBay ultimately settled via a consent decree following an Order denying its motion to dismiss.
- United States v. H&R Block/TaxACT (D.D.C. 2011). Contested litigation and trial involving the merger of two retail tax return preparation software providers.
- United States v. Google/ITA (D.D.C. 2011). Complaint and settlement requiring Google to continue to develop and license ITA’s QPX air travel software.
- Nasdaq/NYSE (2011). This proposed acquisition was abandoned after the Antitrust Division threatened to block the $10 billion deal.
- Google/Yahoo (2008). Yahoo and Google abandoned their advertising agreement after the Antitrust Division informed the companies that it would seek to block it.
- United States v. Oracle (N.D. Cal. 2004). Complaint and trial seeking to block Oracle’s cash tender offer for PeopleSoft, both leading providers of enterprise human relations and financial services software.
- United States v. Visa U.S.A., Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 2001). Investigation and civil trial against Visa and MasterCard. Favorable judgment affirmed on appeal.
- Community Publishers v. Donrey Media, Inc. (W.D. Ark. 1995). Trial to block merger of two newspapers in Northwest Arkansas.
Clerk & Government Experience
ChiefUnited States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Media, Entertainment & Communications Section2012–2021
Assistant ChiefUnited States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Networks & Technology Enforcement Section2004–2012
Trial AttorneyUnited States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division1995–2004
Prior Experience
More
Thought Leadership
Recent Speaking Engagements
“Get ‘Em While They’re Small,” ABA Antitrust Section, Spring Meeting Panel, 2023
“Information Exchange Counseling in the Digital Age,” AABA Antitrust Section, Spring Meeting Panel, 2019
“Net Neutrality: Déjà vu or a New Era?,” ABA Antitrust Section, Spring Meeting Panel, 2018
“Barclays Select Series: Future of Sports,” Fireside Chat Interview, 2017
Recognition
Memberships & Affiliations
American Bar Association, Antitrust Section
- Vice-Chair, Mergers & Acquisitions Committee, 2017–Present
- Vice-Chair, Media and Technology Committee, 2013–2016
- Vice-Chair, Insurance and Financial Services Committee, 2009–2013
National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA)
- Faculty: Deposition, 2009–2012
- Trial Advocacy, 2010
Franklin & Marshall College Board of Trustees, Alumnus Trustee 1996–2001
Franklin & Marshall College Alumni Association President 1995–1996
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- District of Columbia
- Pennsylvania (inactive)
Courts
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Education
- Villanova University Charles Widger School of LawJ.D.1990
- Franklin & Marshall CollegeB.A., Government; Economics Minor1987