FTC Finalizes New Merger-Filing Requirements

The U.S Federal Trade Commission on Oct. 10 finalized changes to a rule that determines what information companies must hand over when seeking clearance for proposed mergers, paring back a proposal that drew criticism from industry groups.

The FTC styled the development as a good thing that could help the regulator determine more quickly which deals should be further investigated and which can move ahead.

The new rule will require companies to hand over more information. At the same time, the FTC said it will once again consider completing merger reviews before the 30-day waiting period expires. This was routine until the practice was suspended in 2021.

46 years ago: the last time the rule had a major overhaul

5-0: the unanimous vote of the two Republican and three Democratic commissioners in favor of the rule[/sidebar]

“The information required by the Final Rule will mitigate the risk of false positives. It can reveal that a merger presents no competitive threat at all, and the Commission can avoid crawling down rabbit holes in unnecessary investigations,” said Andrew Ferguson, one of the FTC’s two Republican commissioners.

“While the agencies have been rightly pressured to scale back their expensive, radical vision for overhauling the merger-notification process, this final rulemaking still holds the potential to unnecessarily target vertical mergers, private equity, and smaller acquisitions,” said Sean Heather, senior vice president for antitrust at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which had criticized the earlier proposal.