One of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) members involved in blocking Fidelity’s acquisition of Stewart is leaving the agency.
FTC Chairman Joe Simons announced that FTC Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman will be leaving the agency in November after serving in the position for more than two years.
“Bruce has done an outstanding job leading the FTC’s vigorous antitrust enforcement efforts for the last two years,” Simons said in a release. “His keen insight and tireless work have benefited American consumers by strengthening and advancing the commission’s competition agenda.”
Simons said he plans to appoint Ian R. Conner, the agency’s deputy director of the Bureau of Competition, to succeed Hoffman. Conner has served as deputy director since September 2017.
During Hoffman’s tenure as director of the Bureau of Competition, the FTC challenged 42 proposed mergers, including 20 transactions that were abandoned or restructured, either as a result of an FTC investigation or after the agency initiated litigation.
In September, the FTC announced it would sue to block Fidelity’s proposed acquisition of Stewart. The two companies terminated their agreement shortly thereafter.