The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) just approved a rule that would largely prohibit making or enforcing employee noncompete agreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others have already sued to block the new rule. What...more
In January 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made three important announcements for M&A practitioners....more
1/24/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) jointly released their long-anticipated final 2023 Merger Guidelines after a notice and public comment period, during which they...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Vertical Mergers
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a long-awaited draft update to their Merger Guidelines. This draft is the latest entry in a long series of guidelines that...more
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a major overhaul of the U.S. merger control reporting process. Among other things, the FTC’s proposed changes would require...more
7/3/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Notice Requirements ,
NPRM ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Required Forms
In January 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made three important announcements for M&A practitioners. This article summarizes the HSR Act’s requirements and reports on relevant developments in 2022....more
1/25/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
On January 5, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a rule to ban most non-compete agreements (“non-competes”) for American workers. The text of the proposed rule is broad: provisions that prevent workers from...more
1/11/2023
/ Competition ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Unfair Competition
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (“Omnibus Bill”). The “Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022” substantially changes the filing fee schedule (with...more
In January 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made two important announcements for M&A practitioners. First, on January 24, the FTC announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting...more
1/26/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
On August 26, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new position on an important factor in determining whether a transaction must be reported under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act: whether debt repayment at closing counts in...more
9/7/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Consideration ,
Debt ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Fair Market Value ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Payoff Requirements ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Valuation ,
Voting Securities
The FTC and DOJ announced today the temporary suspension of the practice of granting “early termination” of the HSR waiting period. In other words, for the time being, you should assume that any reportable transaction will...more
Canadian companies engaged in M&A transactions with connections to the United States should be aware of recent changes to the rules under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act.
On February 2, 2021, the US Federal Trade...more
On February 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR)...more
2/4/2021
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
On January 28, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act,...more
1/31/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
An effective antitrust compliance program is more valuable than ever, now that the Department of Justice has confirmed that such a program will influence government charging and sentencing decisions.
On July 11, 2019,...more
No poaching agreements among employers continue to make antitrust news, and employers and their HR professionals need to take note. Whether or not a particular agreement has a valid purpose (such as protecting an employer’s...more
On February 15, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act,...more
2/20/2019
/ Board of Directors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Nonprofits ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
You know your area of law is hot when it makes the sports section. This past week several sports pages reported that James Dolan (owner of the New York Knicks and CEO of Madison Square Garden) had been fined $609,810 for...more
On January 26, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act. ...more
On January 19, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission announced the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act. The...more
Everyone knows that price-fixing among sellers of competing products is illegal, but price-fixing by buyers can also violate the antitrust laws. That is true even in the market for buying services of employees, regardless of...more
10/27/2016
/ Adobe ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
eBay ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Lucasfilm ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Pixar ,
Wage-Fixing
On January 26, the Federal Trade Commission published the annual adjustment of the thresholds that trigger premerger reporting obligations (and the mandatory waiting period) under the Hart-Scott Rodino (HSR) Act. The new...more
On January 17, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission announced the annual adjustment to the thresholds that trigger reporting obligations under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR Act). Like eight of the past nine annual adjustments,...more