FTC Seeks Public Comment on Petition to Modify EQT, Quantum Energy Order

The Federal Trade Commission requests public comment on 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.

The FTC’s 2023 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 involved in purchasing mineral rights in the Appalachian Basin raised concerns regarding anticompetitive information exchange and the harm to competition in the acquisition of mineral rights. The FTC alleged EQT and Quantum Energy’s deal would violate the antitrust laws and harm competition.

Under the FTC’s final order, Quantum is prohibited from occupying an EQT board seat to prevent the formation of an interlocking directorate, which is an arrangement that occurs when an officer or director of one firm simultaneously serves as an officer or director of a competing firm. 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.

EQT, Quantum Energy, and other relevant parties filed a petition with the Commission that seeks to reopen and set aside the final consent order. According to the petition, by October 2024, Quantum had divested all EQT shares acquired in the transaction and, in February 2024, an affiliate of EQT and an affiliate of Quantum completed the dissolution of the joint venture. The petition states that given these changes, none of the facts giving rise to the final consent order remain, and it would be in the public interest to reopen and set aside the final order.

The public will have 30 days, until August 21, 2025, to submit comments on the petition to reopen and set aside the consent order. Instructions for filing comments appear on the docket. Once processed, they will be posted on Regulations.gov. After the comment period closes, the Commission will vote to determine how to resolve the petition.