The US FTC votes to rescind the vertical merger guidelines issued jointly with the DoJ

On 15 September 2021 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held its third open meeting under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan. As expected, the Commissioners voted along party lines to rescind the Vertical Merger Guidelines (2020 VMGs) that were jointly issued by the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) (the Agencies) in June 2020. Shortly after the conclusion of the open meeting, Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers released a statement acknowledging the FTC’s decision, and noting that the DOJ is in the process of conducting a “careful review” of both the 2020 VMGs and the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines “to ensure they are appropriately skeptical of harmful mergers.” Until that review process is complete and any updates to the guidelines are officially made, the 2020 VMGs will