Publications

August 26, 2010

U.S. Antitrust Agencies Issue Revised Merger Guidelines

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On August 19, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Justice issued revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines. The Guidelines, which outline the enforcement agencies’ policies and practices for evaluating mergers of actual or potential competitors under the antitrust laws, were last revised in 1997. Changes to the Guidelines since they were last revised include updated market concentration thresholds; new discussions of the evidence that enforcement agencies consider in analyzing mergers and the economic and other types of analysis they apply; a new explanation of the role of innovation in merger enforcement; new guidance with respect to mergers of competing buyers; and a new section addressing partial acquisitions, which may impact private equity firms, among others.