UPDATE 1-Varney to step down as top U.S. antitrust official

Tweet Share this EmailPrint Related NewsVarney to step down as top antitrust official6:02pm EDTCredit Suisse names co-heads of Americas M&AWed, Jun 29 2011Special Report: A little house of secrets on the Great PlainsTue, Jun 28 2011New York's same-sex marriage law sets off waves of engagementsSat, Jun 25 2011Google investors fear long battle against fedsFri, Jun 24 2011 Analysis & OpinionBringing sense to business-method patentsAT&T-T-Mobile merger: Why the FTC should hang up Related Topics Stocks » Markets » Media »

Wed Jul 6, 2011 5:58pm EDT

* Varney to join Cravath, Swaine & Moore on Sept. 6

* Cleared Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal

(Adds details of deals approved by Varney)

NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - Christine Varney, the topantitrust official in the U.S. Justice Department, is steppingdown to become a partner at an elite law firm in New York.

The law firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, made theannouncement in an internal memo on Wednesday.

Although Varney was appointed by President Obama to beef upantitrust enforcement, she was not considered the hard-nosedenforcer many had expected. She cleared major deals during hertwo years on the job, including the approval of Comcast Corp's(CMCSA.O) acquisition of a 51 percent stake in NBC Universalfrom General Electric Co. (GE.N), creating a $30 billionbusiness that inlcudes broadcast, cable networks, movie studiosand theme parks. The deal included the condition that Comcastgive up day-to-day control of the video website Hulu.

The Justice Department under Varney also extendedcontroversial approvals of Ticketmaster's buy of Live Nation in2010 and Google's (GOOG.O) purchase of ticketing softwarecompany ITA in April.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond torequest for comment about Varney's departure.

Cravath, a law firm with about 500 attorneys, has a renownedantitrust practice. It represented United Airlines (UAL.N) inits merger with Continental, a merger that was completed inOctober. The firm also has long-represented IBM and Time WarnerCable. The law firm's average profits per partner in 2010 were$3.2 million, according to the American Lawyer. Gross revenuewas $591 million.

Prior to becoming Assistant Attorney General for theAntitrust Division, Varney practiced for 10 years at Hogan &Hartson, now Hogan Lovells. She was previously a commissionerat the Federal Trade Commission.

(Reporting by Alison Frankel, Leigh Jones, Erin GeigerSmith and Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Eddie Evans)

StocksMarketsMediaRelated Quotes and NewsCompanyPriceRelated News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this EmailReprints   We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/Comments (0)Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)#echo-stream .echo-stream-more-wrapper {display:none !important;} Start Network FooterEnd Network Footer START News Content Page Tags 'Text' | 'Picture' | 'Slideshow' | 'Video' ie. articleId ie. articleId ie. headline for article ie. headline for article END News Content Page Tags © Copyright 2011 Thomson ReutersEditorial Editions:AfricaArabicArgentinaBrazilCanadaChinaFranceGermanyIndiaItalyJapanLatin AmericaMexicoRussiaSpainUnited KingdomUnited StatesReutersContact UsAdvertise With UsHelpJournalism HandbookArchiveSite IndexVideo IndexReader Feedback MobileNewslettersRSSPodcastsWidgetsYour ViewAnalyst ResearchThomson ReutersCopyrightDisclaimerPrivacyProfessional ProductsProfessional Products SupportFinancial ProductsAbout Thomson ReutersCareersOnline ProductsAcquisitions MonthlyBuyoutsVenture Capital JournalInternational Financing ReviewProject Finance InternationalPEhub.comPE WeekFindLawSuper Lawyers Attorney Rating Service Reuters on Facebook

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.