Thursday, March 4, 2021 The 4th Circuit’s decision in Steves and Sons Inc. v. JELD-WEN Inc. 1 affirmed a district court’s order compelling an acquirer to divest the business of a competitor, which the court held had been acquired in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. 2 The court described the case as the first instance in which a private party successfully compelled divestiture of a completed acquisition. Government antitrust enforcers commonly obtain divestiture orders in Section 7 cases. Private parties have previously succeeded in enjoining mergers before closing. Moreover, in California v. American Stores Co., 3 the Supreme Court declared that private parties could obtain divestiture orders. However, private plaintiffs seeking divestitures have customarily been foreclosed by equitable defenses, such as (i) laches because of delays in initiating suit, (ii) the availability of damages or less-drastic equitable relief, or (iii) the greater damage divestiture would impose on the defendant.