The US FTC and DoJ officials offer additional commentary on draft merger guidelines

On September 5, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) (the Agencies) hosted the first of three planned workshops intended to “facilitate public dialogue” on the 2023 FTC and DOJ Draft Merger Guidelines (the draft guidelines). The Agencies published the draft guidelines in July 2023, placing an increased focus on structural presumptions and promoting expansive and novel theories of merger enforcement. If adopted, the guidelines would memorialize the Agencies’ trend towards enhanced scrutiny of mergers across the board. The workshop—along with separate programs hosted recently by the American Bar Association (ABA) Antitrust Law Section and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) [1] —provided attendees with a more in-depth understanding of the