The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released the 2023 Merger Guidelines, which detail the factors and frameworks the agencies use when reviewing mergers and acquisitions.
The new guidelines come after a nearly two-year long stakeholder engagement process and should reflect “modern market realities, advances in economics and law, and the lived experiences of a diverse array of market participants,” the agencies said.
“These finalized Guidelines provide transparency into how the Justice Department is protecting the American people from the ways in which unlawful, anticompetitive practices manifest themselves in our modern economy,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
The new guidelines are a modification of an earlier draft released last summer. The agencies received more than 30,000 comments on the draft and as a result held three workshops to revise the guidelines.
“Like the prior horizontal and vertical merger guidelines they replace, the 2023 Merger Guidelines are not themselves legally binding, but provide transparency into the Agencies’ decision-making process,” the agencies noted. To view the new guidelines in their entirety, visit tinyurl.com/mpteyb4w.
