More than 82% of merger enforcement actions announced by the U.S. antitrust agencies in 2024 involved a litigated challenge (complaint) or the deal being abandoned. But only 17 enforcement actions were reported in total—well...more
3/28/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Transparency
As we enter 2025 with a new president in the White House and Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, we can look forward to a significant shift in the landscape for oil & gas transactions. The second Trump...more
1/16/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FERC ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Private Equity ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration
The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) requires all parties to transactions that meet certain transaction size and other tests to file premerger notification forms for mergers and other...more
The long-awaited new HSR rules have finally been released. On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with concurrence of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the Agencies), released the 460-page final...more
10/30/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
New Rules ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
Key Points -
The HSR Act requires parties that meet certain transaction size and other tests to file premerger notification forms for mergers and other transactions with both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and...more
Key Takeaways -
An FTC merger settlement in the $5.2 billion transaction between EQT and Quantum, two producers of natural gas in the Appalachian Basin, signals the antitrust agencies’ new approach to analyzing the potential...more
11/22/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Consent Order ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Joint Venture ,
Mergers ,
Natural Gas ,
Popular ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
Supply Chain ,
The Clayton Act
Continuing a more aggressive posture toward corporate mergers, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission recently announced new HSR rules that dramatically change and expand the amount and type of information...more
For the first time in nearly 45 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with support from the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the “Agencies”), proposed a complete redesign of the...more
On February 13, 2023, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...more
Key Points -
The HSR Act requires parties that meet certain transaction size and other tests to file premerger notification forms for mergers and other transactions with both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of...more
1/25/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Key Points -
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Fee Modernization Act into law as part of the $1.7 trillion omnibus government spending bill.
The Fee Modernization Act substantially increases HSR filing...more
Key Takeaways -
The antitrust agencies have lost three litigated merger challenges in less than one month. The DOJ Antitrust Division lost challenges to UnitedHealth/Change and U.S. Sugar/Imperial Sugar while the FTC lost...more
Key Points -
As part of the antitrust agencies’ public commitment to investigate and prosecute competitive harm in labor markets, the DOJ Antitrust Division fined three major U.S. poultry processors and a data consulting...more
8/22/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Poultry ,
Sherman Act ,
State Data Privacy Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
Key Takeaways -
Prior informal interpretations from the Premerger Notification Office have permitted companies to exclude debt paid off at closing from the calculation of the statutory size of transaction test, under...more