UNITED STATES -

New Merger Guidelines Deployed -

The 2023 Merger Guidelines are a non-binding statement that provides clarity on aspects of federal agencies’ deliberations and enforcement practices undertaken in individual merger cases under the antitrust laws. The new merger guidelines closely reflect the objectives of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice (DOJ) to broaden the definition of what constitutes anticompetitive effects in order to modernize antitrust law in the face of current commercial and market realities. The merger guidelines that were released in December 2023 were walked back from the draft merger guidelines released in July 2023 but are still a substantial departure from the prior merger guidelines.