2024 was a significant year for merger enforcement worldwide. In the United States, the Biden administration continued the aggressive approach reflected in the revamped Merger Guidelines issued in December 2023. In Europe,...more
China doubled its merger notification thresholds effective on January 26, 2024.
China's State Council recently published new merger control notification thresholds doubling the previous China revenue thresholds in an...more
As expected, the final guidelines expand the types of transactions that may receive heightened scrutiny or result in a merger challenge....more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) have proposed to expand dramatically the scope and burden of preparing a merger filing in the United States. The proposed changes...more
7/26/2023
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
NPRM ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements
Recent actions by the Saudi Arabia competition authority confirm that the agency is adopting a more aggressive enforcement approach, particularly involving consumer-facing companies.
The Saudi Arabian General Authority...more
Merging parties in all HSR reportable transactions must observe the full 30-day waiting period before closing a deal.
On February 4, 2021, the U.S. antitrust agencies announced that they are temporarily suspending the...more
The Development: The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and a divided Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") released the final version of their Vertical Merger Guidelines, the first revision in more than 35 years. The Guidelines...more
7/15/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Defense Strategies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diagonal Mergers ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Mergers
The Situation:The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") has sued to block a proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation by Novelis Inc. In an unprecedented move, the parties and DOJ agreed to refer the "dispositive" issue of...more
9/12/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Section 7 ,
The Clayton Act
After eighteen months of investigation and litigation, a federal district court has rejected the Justice Department's challenge to AT&T's $108 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Although the government could appeal, the...more
The Situation: The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently published a blog post reminding merging parties to avoid creating antitrust liability through the exchange of competitively sensitive information during merger...more
4/27/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contractual Safeguards ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Information Sharing ,
Mergers ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Sherman Act