July 3 (Reuters) - A closely-watched lawsuit seeking to

block Tempur Sealy's ( TPX ) $4.3 billion acquisition of retail giant

Mattress Firm will pit veteran antitrust defenders against a

U.S. Federal Trade Commission team led by a former longtime

Latham & Watkins attorney who joined the agency this year.

Bed manufacturer Tempur Sealy ( TPX ) has turned to Cleary

Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, including partner Bruce Hoffman, and

Mattress Firm is working with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, whose

team includes Sara Razi, co-leader of the firm's antitrust and

trade regulation group, court records show.

The FTC on Tuesday sued in Houston federal court to stop

Tempur Sealy's ( TPX ) merger, which the agency said would lead to

potential job losses for manufacturing workers and cause

consumers to pay higher prices.

The FTC's Allyson Maltas, who left Latham in January for a

senior trial counsel post at the agency, is in charge of the

agency's case.

Maltas, Hoffman and Razi had no immediate comment or did not

respond to a request for one.

The FTC's lawsuit stands out as a rare litigated "vertical"

merger challenge. U.S. antitrust enforcers have struggled in

court to block such mergers, since the deals involve companies

that do not compete against each other head-on.

FTC competition bureau director Henry Liu said in a

statement on Tuesday that Tempur Sealy's ( TPX ) aim was "to kneecap

competitors and dominate the market."

Lexington, Kentucky-based Tempur Sealy ( TPX ) in a statement said

the bedding industry was highly competitive and that Mattress

Firm accounted for only a fraction of the retail market.

Cleary Gottlieb's Hoffman served as FTC competition bureau

director from 2017 until 2019, supervising antitrust

enforcement. In 2012 while at another firm, Hoffman was counsel

to Universal Music Group in its $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI

Music's recorded music business.

Razi was on the Simpson Thacher team that successfully

defended Change Healthcare in a Justice Department antitrust

lawsuit in 2022 targeting UnitedHealth's acquisition of the

company as unlawful.

Maltas was on the Latham team defending American Airlines in

a Justice Department antitrust action in Massachusetts before

leaving the firm.

Tempur Sealy ( TPX ) said it anticipated successfully resolving the

litigation in the coming months and completing its deal later

this year or in early 2025.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Tempur Sealy

International Inc. ( TPX ) et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern

District of Texas, No. 4:24-cv-02508.

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