United States -
2024 ended with 17 concluded significant merger investigations, the second-lowest total in DAMITT’s 14-year history, behind only the record-low 12 concluded in 2023 also under the Biden administration....more
1/31/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers
Following a significant increase in transactions during Q3 2024, optimism is growing for an even stronger year ahead. Our co-published annual report explores growth opportunities and emerging trends that are essential to...more
66% of PE firms globally expect increased scrutiny from antitrust, FDI and other regulatory authorities to have a negative impact on their dealmaking plans over the next 12 months.
Rising regulatory scrutiny continues to...more
11/12/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asia Pacific ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EMEA ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Mergers ,
New Amendments ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Technology Sector
With President-elect Trump announced as the winner of the 2024 election, the landscape of U.S. policy is poised for potential shifts that could significantly impact various sectors. Stakeholders in the real estate market are...more
11/7/2024
/ Affordable Housing ,
Antitrust Division ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deregulation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FHFA ,
Green Energy ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Market ,
SALT ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform
Under the Trump administration, the real estate sector will likely face new circumstances defined by deregulation, leadership changes and tax reforms. While reduced compliance costs and regulatory burdens might pose...more
11/7/2024
/ Advertising ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
China ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deregulation ,
Employment Policies ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Investment ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Patents ,
Real Estate Market ,
Retail ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Technology Sector ,
Tips ,
Tracking Systems ,
Unions ,
USPTO
With President-elect Trump announced as the winner of the 2024 election, the private equity and private credit sectors are poised for significant developments. Positive economic trends, such as waning inflation, anticipated...more
11/7/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banks ,
CFIUS ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Credit ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
NLRA ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paris Agreement ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Cuts ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Unions
As previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” and, together with FTC, the “agencies”), recently finalized expansive...more
10/30/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications
As the 2024 election cycle unfolds, the landscape of U.S. policy is poised for potential shifts that could significantly impact various sectors. With the possibility of a Harris or Trump administration, stakeholders in the...more
While the 2024 election cycle may introduce temporary uncertainty, the convergence of positive economic trends such as waning inflation, anticipated interest rate cuts and cautious optimism for a soft landing suggests robust...more
Potential Election Impacts on the Private Equity and Private Credit Sectors -
While the 2024 election cycle may introduce temporary uncertainty, the convergence of positive economic trends such as waning inflation,...more
10/29/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Credit ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Lenders ,
Lending ,
Mergers ,
NLRB ,
PFAS ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tax Cuts
On August 20, 2024, a federal district court in Texas issued a permanent injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s “Non-Compete Rule,” which would have prohibited nearly all non-compete clauses with workers.
The...more
On July 23, 2024, a federal district court in Philadelphia refused to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation or enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s April 2024 Final Rule banning worker non-compete...more
In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) announced a Final Rule that would prohibit nearly all existing and future non-compete agreements between employers and workers, subject to specified...more
7/9/2024
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Texas
After more than a year of considering tens of thousands of public comments, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has voted 3-to-2 to adopt a Final Rule (the “Rule”) that would effectively ban almost all employee non-compete...more
4/25/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
The Merger Guidelines lower the market concentration threshold for the presumption that a merger is illegal.
Deals that place combined market shares above 30 percent with a significant increase in concentration are...more
Dechert’s antitrust group submitted comments today to U.S. antitrust agencies on their proposed top-to-bottom overhaul of premerger antitrust filings made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The Federal Trade Commission...more
On July 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) issued their long-awaited draft Merger Guidelines. The draft Merger Guidelines, once finalized, will...more
The Boiling Points collection features real-world documents that government antitrust agencies used against merging companies. Dechert’s antitrust/competition practice curated the collection from an exhaustive review of...more
8/16/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asset Deals ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Document Management ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Regulatory Standards
The government had lost seven consecutive hospital merger litigations before the FTC’s challenge to the Evanston Northwestern/Highland Park merger in 2003. That losing streak forced the FTC to reassess the economic tests used...more
DAMITT has observed an across-the-board increase in the average duration of significant EU Merger investigations: Phase I remedy cases resolved in Q1 2021 averaged 10.5 months; while Phase II investigations averaged 17.3...more
The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP’s Antitrust/Competition practice reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States...more
2/5/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Monopolization ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
UK Brexit
The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
10/29/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Joe Biden ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States
....The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
7/25/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Phase II ,
Popular ,
Vertical Mergers
The final Vertical Merger Guidelines issued on June 30, 2020 provide guidance to the business and legal communities on how the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) currently analyze the...more
7/14/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diagonal Mergers ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Guidelines ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Mergers of Complements ,
New Guidance ,
Safe Harbors ,
Vertical Mergers
Fast Facts -
United States
- The COVID-19 pandemic has yet to slow U.S. merger enforcement, with deal reviews for Q1 2020 averaging 11.1 months in length, slightly below the 11.9 month average for CY 2019.
- The...more