Do up front buyers eliminate the need for hold separates?
Not necessarily. To the extent that the buyers are going to take over the divested assets immediately, this might eliminate the need for a hold separate. However, where the buyer of the divested assets may not take immediate, or almost immediate, possession of the assets, the mere presence of an up front buyer does not eliminate the need for a hold separate order. All assets, some more quickly than others, are subject to wasting or deterioration; potentially reducing both interim and long term competition. A hold separate order is intended, in part, to eliminate the respondent’s ability to influence that pace of wasting or deterioration, and to eliminate the ability of the respondent to manipulate the use of those assets to obtain or maintain short term market power. Although the buyer of the divested assets could insert general and specific clauses, including penalties, into the purchase agreement to address the possibility of the wasting and deterioration of assets to be acquired, en
