WASHINGTON-The Justice Department today said antitrust czar Hewitt Pate will resign next month, creating a vacancy amid a pending $35 billion merger between Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. and other large telecom deals.
“It has been a great honor to serve under President Bush and Attorneys General [John] Ashcroft and [Alberto] Gonzales during my tenure at the Justice Department,” said Pate, whose last day with Justice is set for June 30.
Under Pate, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. was required to divest various licenses of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as a condition for government approval of the $41 billion acquisition in 2004.
Consumer groups and others are urging telecom regulators to compel Sprint and Nextel to sell certain 2.5 GHz broadband wireless holdings as a prerequisite to okaying the proposed $35 billion transaction.
Pate’s successor likely will have the final word on the Sprint-Nextel deal, SBC Communications Inc.’s proposed $16 billion purchase of AT&T Corp., and Verizon Communications Inc.’s $8.5 billion offer for MCI Inc.
Pate served as acting assistant attorney general for antitrust from November 2002 until his confirmation in June 2003. Pate replaced ex-Justice antitrust chief Charles James, a former attorney at the Jones Day law firm. One published report said the next head of antitrust at the Justice Department might again come from Jones Day.
A Justice Department investigation recently led Hynix Semiconductor Inc., a Korean manufacturer of dynamic random access memory, to agree to plead guilty and to pay a $185 million fine for participating in an international conspiracy to fix prices in the multibillion-dollar DRAM market. The Hynix fine is the third-largest criminal antitrust fine in U.S. history and the largest in five years, according to U.S. officials. DRAMs are used in cell phones and other electronic products.
“Hew Pate has been a strong enforcer of our nation’s antitrust laws,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “From combating international price fixing cartels to challenging anticompetitive mergers, Hew’s leadership has been exemplary. I am grateful for his public service at the Justice Department and his dedication to protecting consumers and businesses from anticompetive harm.”
