The US FTC issues special orders to large technology companies requesting information on prior acquisitions completed over the last decade (Alphabet / Amazon / Apple / Facebook / Microsoft)

On Feb. 11, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had issued special orders to five large technology companies, requesting information on prior acquisitions completed by the companies during the past 10 years. The FTC’s announcement follows several recent high-profile events relating to technology mergers, including the FTC’s Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century and the FTC’s creation of a Technology Task Force. [1] The continuing timeliness of the special orders was made evident by recent remarks from FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson. According to a podcast released for the American Bar Association Antitrust Section's Virtual Spring Meeting ("Merger Analysis Gone Digital: Time to Reboot?"), Commissioner Wilson reportedly said that the public