As previously highlighted in our inaugural Akin Agency Transparency In Merger Enforcement (TIME) Report, merger enforcement transparency fell to an all-time low under the Biden administration. A key driver towards that trend...more
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
The heightened focus on antitrust and competition issues that has defined dealmaking globally over the past few years looks set for readjustment since President Trump re-entered the White House. Under the Biden...more
2/14/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Private Equity ,
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
Recent actions by antitrust agencies globally deliver on their promises for increased scrutiny of private equity sponsored transactions and strategies in at least three ways....more
The year 2023 will be remembered as a challenging one for private equity (PE), with complexities to navigate on many fronts. Traditional debt financing was expensive and scarce, expectations on valuations were tricky to...more
3/12/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Divestiture ,
Domestic Dealmaking ,
Drug Pricing ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Healthcare ,
Investment ,
Life Sciences ,
Liquidity ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Renewable Energy ,
Reporting Requirements ,
UK ,
Unions ,
Venture Capital
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
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a draft update of the Merger Guidelines (hereinafter, the “Proposed...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 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 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
Key Points Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) have temporarily suspended discretionary grants of early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
2/5/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
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 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Key Points
- The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 requires parties that meet certain transaction size and other tests to file premerger notification forms with both the Federal Trade Commission...more
2/3/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
- The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 requires parties that meet certain transaction size and other tests to file premerger notification forms with both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of...more
1/28/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
• The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 requires parties to transactions meeting certain size and other tests to file premerger notification forms with both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of...more
2/19/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
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
In this episode, Akin Gump antitrust partners Gorav Jindal and Corey Roush discuss antitrust developments in 2018 and look at what 2019 may bring.
Among the topics covered:
• antitrust under the Trump administration
• major...more
1/10/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Best Practices ,
Big Data ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Risk Allocation ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Trump Administration ,
Vertical Mergers
• The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 requires parties to transactions meeting certain size and other tests to file premerger notification forms with both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of...more
As part of the effort to rebrand the party and reconnect with working-class voters who were lost in the presidential election, congressional Democrats revealed a new populist policy agenda, titled “A Better Deal: Better Jobs,...more
9/18/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GAO ,
Job Creation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Obama Administration ,
Political Parties ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
The White House announced yesterday that Makan Delrahim will be nominated to head up the United States Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Delrahim, a long-time D.C. attorney with decades of policy and lobbying...more