On December 18, 2023, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") published in final form the long-awaited 2023 Merger Guidelines. The final 2023 Merger Guidelines adopt—with some significant...more
The Proposed Merger Guidelines represent the DOJ's and the FTC's aggressive scrutiny of mergers. As one of the most important reflections of policy the Antitrust Agencies use to analyze transactions, the Proposed...more
The Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice ("DOJ") continues to aggressively pursue alleged illegal interlocking directorates that violate Section 8 of the Clayton Act, and in particular, interlocks involving...more
The federal government continues to aggressively pursue its antitrust agenda, seeking to block several headline deals, rejecting remedy offers, increasing filing fees for the largest deals and setting out new guidelines....more
2/13/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act notification thresholds – effective for deals closing on or after February 27, 2023 – and the new HSR merger filing fees....more
1/27/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
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
On October 19, 2022, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice announced that seven directors resigned from five different US public company boards of directors following DOJ concerns that their roles violated...more
10/21/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Entities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Section 8 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
The Clayton Act
In January, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a joint public inquiry to update the agencies' merger guidelines, which set out the framework by which the agencies assess the...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was busy in its first year under the Biden administration. Over the past year, the FTC announced several important policy and process changes that may have significant implications for US...more
2/8/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Buyers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Warning Letters
The COVID-19 outbreak has led to changes in how the US and other competition agencies around the world look at competitor collaborations. Despite these policy announcements, antitrust compliance is still a priority, and...more
3/27/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Collaboration ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
European Commission ,
European Competition Network (ECN) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Joint Purchasing Programs ,
State of Emergency ,
Supply Chain
Last week, in response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID19), the antitrust agencies in the United States and European Union issued policies that will affect, and may delay, merger filings and reviews. ...more
3/17/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Filing ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Risk Mitigation