Days after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached its first divestiture settlement of the new Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ or the Division) followed through on Assistant...more
6/17/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) recently announced that it will require Synopsys, Inc. (Synopsys) and Ansys, Inc. (Ansys) (together, “the parties”) to divest certain assets to resolve antitrust concerns...more
In a growing trend, states are requiring more premerger filings by enacting “baby-HSR” laws modeled after the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. These state-level statutes require parties to certain mergers and acquisitions...more
Breaking from longstanding tradition, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) both recently withdrew their attendance and speakership from the American Bar Association...more
Gail Slater was confirmed last week as Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Antitrust Division; companies should expect a continuation of many Biden-era approaches, with new cases and priorities to advance the Trump...more
Now more than a month into President Trump’s second term, the Administration’s antitrust enforcement priorities have begun to take shape. Recent actions indicate that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division...more
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson has made two significant management decisions that will impact the trajectory of his enforcement agenda. On February 10, 2025, Chairman Ferguson appointed directors for...more
As of February 10, 2025, the new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) reporting requirements that expand the volume of documents and information filing parties must submit to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...more
DOJ Follows Familiar Playbook in Merger Challenge Focused on “Hot” Documents -
Following a familiar playbook and relying heavily on market share presumptions and “hot” documents describing close competition, the U.S....more
President Trump has chosen Gail Slater to lead the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and elevated Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to chair the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this second installment of...more
1/27/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Popular ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Sherman Act
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a record-breaking $5.6 million fine on XCL Resource Holdings, LLC (XCL), Verdun Oil Company II LLC (Verdun), and EP Energy LLC (EP) to settle allegations that they engaged in...more
On October 24, 2024, to the surprise of many legal observers and fashion industry executives, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured a preliminary injunction blocking a proposed $8.5 billion deal between Tapestry and...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously passed a landmark rulemaking that significantly alters reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Though less...more
Information exchanges and integration planning are a vital component of the due diligence process when companies are considering acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, or any other business decision involving another party....more
On August 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion in limine in its challenge to Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons alleging that Albertsons executives intentionally deleted text...more
Serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies are facing intense scrutiny as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division request public comment on how these types of...more
5/30/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Threshold Requirements
On July 19, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced they were joining forces to “bolster the FTC's efforts to protect workers by promoting competitive U.S. labor...more
On July 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion for an emergency preliminary injunction to abrogate Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation's (Booz Allen's) merger agreement with EverWatch Corp....more
On September 15, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted its third open meeting in as many months. The commission adopted the four items on its agenda and FTC staff gave a presentation on its study of acquisitions by...more
More than halfway through year one of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are flexing their muscles and confirming the early consensus view that antitrust risk would be...more
In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched significant investigations into mergers between distributors, with the merging parties resolving the FTC’s concerns through consent, by abandoning the...more
On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (the Agencies) issued new guidelines governing for vertical mergers and acquisitions. The Guidelines replace and supersede the DOJ's...more
The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges for merging parties and enforcement agencies.1 In the U.S., it has caused both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to alter their...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued revised Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act jurisdictional thresholds for the upcoming year, the announcement of which was delayed due to the recent federal government shutdown. The FTC...more
2/21/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued guidance explaining how parties to a merger or acquisition can reduce antitrust risk when exchanging competitively sensitive information prior to closing. The exchange of...more