Recent developments have made navigating multinational antitrust merger reviews even more complex and replete with traps for the unwary. ...more
7/8/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Competition Authorities ,
Enforcement Authority ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Geopolitical Risks ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
International Trade ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Multinationals ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
After President Trump’s election for a second term, those predicting where federal antitrust enforcement was headed had to contend with internal tensions in the Trump coalition that extend to economic policy more broadly:...more
On April 4, 2025, Washington became the first state to enact the Uniform Antitrust Premerger Notification Act (Model Act), requiring parties to certain notifiable transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust...more
Since their release, the federal antitrust agencies’ 2023 Merger Guidelines (2023 Guidelines) have faced significant criticism from many. There was speculation that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice...more
On January 10, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced adjusted thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective 30 days after the official publication date of the adjusted...more
1/16/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Three crude oil producers have agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $5.7 million to settle allegations that they engaged in “gun jumping,” namely, allowing the acquirer to exercise control over the target’s business conduct...more
1/14/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Oil & Gas
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has limited the European Commission’s (EC) ability to review mergers that fall outside thresholds at the EC level and in the Member States seeking to refer the...more
9/6/2024
/ Competition Authorities ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Threshold Requirements
Parties contemplating transactions in the defense sector need to know about a new obligation to provide materials to the Department of Defense (DOD) that will substantially affect their obligations for transactions that are...more
2/8/2024
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GAO ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
NDAA
On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective 30 days after the official publication date in the Federal...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice jointly released their final Merger Guidelines. The Guidelines “identify the procedures and enforcement practices [the agencies] most often use...more
Under their current leadership, the U.S. federal antitrust agencies have shown antipathy to resolving merger investigations through remedy undertaking that are embodied in consent decrees, preferring instead to seek to...more
On October 12, 2023, the European Commission (EC) ordered Illumina to unwind its already completed acquisition of the cancer-test provider GRAIL Inc. This is the first time that the EC has ordered a reversal of an...more
This marks the second issue of WilmerHale’s The Interplay: Key Decisions at the Intersection of Antitrust & Life Sciences, a monthly bulletin that will highlight developments in the antitrust and life sciences space. We will...more
10/16/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Pricing ,
False Marking ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Industry Consolidation ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Orange Book ,
Partnerships ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Policy Statement ,
Section 340B ,
TPAs
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice released a draft update of the Merger Guidelines. The draft Guidelines describe how the agencies “review...mergers and acquisitions to determine...more
7/21/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
As described in our Client Alert of July 6, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed on June 27, 2023, a massive overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) pre-merger notification...more
7/19/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Notice Requirements ,
NPRM ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Required Forms
For the first time in 45 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed on June 27, 2023, a massive overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) pre-merger...more
On May 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois seeking to enjoin closing of Amgen Inc.’s proposed $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. This is the first time...more
On 20 April 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted a package of measures to “simplify” its merger control procedures. The reform expands the scope of the EU’s simplified merger control procedure, introduces a new...more
Senior officials at the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have made clear that they will not entertain or will sharply limit resolutions of merger investigations...more
On January 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective on February 27, 2023, the lowest size-of-transaction filing...more
2/3/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the Act), which changes the fee structure for transactions that are notified under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust...more
1/9/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Russia ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
The last week has seen crucial developments at the European Commission (EC) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the antitrust review of the $7.1 billion proposed acquisition by Illumina (the leading supplier of...more
9/12/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Vertical Agreement ,
Vertical Mergers
Since March 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) has challenged three proposed acquisitions based on vertical competitive concerns. The parties in two of those transactions - Nvidia/Arm and Lockheed...more
On January 21, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective February 23, 2022, the lowest size-of-transaction filing threshold...more
1/27/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) has announced a new policy to dramatically expand its use of prior approval orders in merger transactions. On October 25, the FTC issued a policy statement (Statement) under...more