FTC Denies Petition to Reopen EQT, Quantum Energy Order

The Federal Trade Commission denied a petition seeking to reopen and set aside a final consent order involving a $5.2 billion cash-and-stock deal between private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners and natural gas producer EQT Corporation.

Following a public comment period, the FTC determined that the petition should be denied since Quantum failed to identify any changes that justify reopening and setting aside the final order.

The FTC's consent order resolved antitrust concerns that alleged the deal would have made Quantum one of EQT's largest shareholders and given Quantum a seat on EQT's board of directors. Quantum and EQT are direct competitors in the production and sale of natural gas in the Appalachian Basin, the largest natural gas-producing region in the United States.

In addition, the FTC alleged that an existing joint venture between EQT and Quantum, which involved in purchasing mineral rights in the Appalachian Basin, raised concerns regarding anticompetitive information exchange and could harm competition in the acquisition of mineral rights.

Under the FTC's final 2023 consent order, Quantum is prohibited from occupying an EQT board seat to prevent the formation of an interlocking directorate. The final order also required Quantum to divest its EQT shares, prevented anticompetitive information exchange, unwound the joint venture between the two entities, and imposed additional restraints to protect competition.

While Quantum has taken steps to comply with the FTC's consent order, the FTC's order denying the petition states that Quantum still has obligations under the consent order. Quantum has not met its burden of showing that a change of fact requires reopening the order. In addition, the order denying the petition further states that Quantum has failed to establish it would be in the public interest to set aside the order.

The Commission vote to deny the petition to reopen the order was 3-0.