The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice released their annual antitrust report [PDF], showing a slight decline in the number of mergers reviewed by the government last year but a jump in enforcement actions by the FTC.
In fiscal year 2012, the agencies received a total of 1,429 merger filings, a 1.4 percent drop compared to 2011, when there were 1,450 reportable mergers. Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, companies in 2012 were required to notify the government of deals worth more than $68.2 million prior to closing the transaction (the threshold was raised to $70.9 million in 2013).
