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Biden Administration M&A Reform Would Quadruple Work Hours & Paperwork

FTC and DOJ announced last week, proposed changes to HSR form for 'more effective, efficient' merger review.

Posted August 3, 2023

Weeks before releasing the draft Merger Guidelines on July 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice announced an overhaul of the premerger notification process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 – the first of its kind since the HSR Act was adopted.

The changes are estimated to quadruple the number of hours needed to prepare a premerger notification filing. The average would seed an increase from 37 hours to 144 hours.

The proposed changes would reflect agencies’, such as the Department of Justice, intention to look closer at horizontal overlaps, including non-horizontal competition, labor competition, influence through board participation and minority investments, and industry roll-ups through serial acquisitions.

The changes are consistent with the enforcement priorities, including greater emphasis on non-horizontal and forward-looking competitive harm.

View full press release, here.