The US FTC and DoJ issue revised horizontal merger guidelines

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (together, the “Agencies”) issued revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) describing how the Agencies seek to determine whether a merger of competing companies will substantially lessen competition. The final document is nearly identical in substance to the draft that was released for public comment in April. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW MERGER GUIDELINES The new Guidelines largely reflect what has been the enforcement practice and position of the Agencies for the past several years. In our view, they do not signal a radical shift in enforcement approach, notwithstanding the announced intention of Agency leadership to more aggressively challenge mergers. The Guidelines’ apparent