Inflation Reduction Act
Increasing Antitrust and Potentially Other Scrutiny for Defense M&A Deals
Mergers and acquisitions involving companies that conduct business with the federal government present a unique set of challenges. Several statutes and regulations are implicated in such corporate transactions, whether the federal government is a company’s smallest customer or its only...
FTC Announces 2024 Increase in HSR Notification Thresholds and Filing Fees
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds and HSR filing fees, which will become effective on March 6, 2024. The revised thresholds will apply to any merger or...
DOJ and FTC Finalize New Merger Guidelines
On December 18, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the final version of new merger review guidelines (Merger Guidelines), five months after the agencies published a draft for public comment. The new 2023...
FTC Acts to Remedy Interlocking Director and Information Exchange Concerns in Oil & Gas Transaction
On August 16, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission took action to resolve its antitrust concerns associated with a proposed transaction between EQT Corporation (EQT) and private equity firm QEP Partners, LP (Quantum) pursuant to which EQT agreed to acquire certain...
What Once Was Old Is New Again: DOJ and FTC Issue Draft New Merger Guidelines
On July 19, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a draft version of new Merger Guidelines (Merger Guidelines), which would replace the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines (the...
FTC Proposes Sweeping Changes to US Merger Filing Requirements
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in concurrence with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), announced a proposal to drastically overhaul the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification process. The proposed rulemaking is yet another...
FTC Announces 2023 Increase in HSR Notification Thresholds and Effective Date for Increased Filing Fees
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on Monday, February 27, 2023. The revised thresholds will apply to any merger or acquisition closing on...
FTC Pursues Crackdown on Employee Noncompetes
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched unprecedented challenges to noncompete provisions in employment contracts through both rulemaking and individual enforcement actions. Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompetes Most significantly, on January 5, 2023, the FTC released a sweeping...
Congress Enacts Major Overhaul to HSR Filing Fees for M&A Deals
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (also known as The Omnibus Appropriations Bill), which includes the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act. The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, which marks the most...
HSR Notification Thresholds Increase for 2022
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR Act”) thresholds, which will become effective on February 23, 2022. The revised thresholds will apply to any merger or acquisition closing on or...
President Signs Executive Order Directing Federal Agencies to Promote Competition and Increase Antitrust Enforcement
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14036 , “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which broadly targets anticompetitive practices and corporate consolidation across many sectors of the U.S. economy. The ambitious and wide-ranging Executive Order contains 72...
Khan Confirmation to FTC Foreshadows More Aggressive Antitrust Agenda
Earlier this week, Columbia Law School professor Lina Khan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to fill the 5 th seat on the Federal Trade Commission, giving Democrats a 3-2 majority on the competition and consumer protection agency. The Senate...
Stalemate at FTC Leads to Contested Merger Closing
On May 14, 2021, despite not having obtained official approval from federal antitrust authorities, 7-Eleven Inc., the largest convenience-store chain in the U.S., took the highly unusual step of closing its $21 billion purchase of the Speedway retail gasoline and...
HSR Notification Thresholds Decrease Slightly for 2021
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR Act”) thresholds, which will become effective on March 4, 2021. Pursuant to Section 7A(a)(2) of the Clayton Act, the FTC is required to...
DOJ Issues New Merger Remedies Manual, Emphasizes Structural Remedy Preference
On September 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division released a revised Merger Remedies Manual (“Manual”), providing a modernized framework to structure and implement remedies in merger cases where DOJ determines that the transaction would harm competition. DOJ...