On July 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) (collectively, the agencies) issued revised Merger Guidelines (Proposed Guidelines) that if adopted would lead to increased antitrust scrutiny of proposed transactions. The Proposed Guidelines contain significant changes from the current version of the Guidelines, which were issued in 2010, and follow on the heels of the agencies’ June 29 rulemaking which proposes sweeping changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) notification process.
The Proposed Guidelines reflect the agencies’ heightened doubts about the benefits of mergers and acquisitions and the inclination to revive theories of competitive harm from the mid-20th century.
