On 30 April 2026, the European Commission released its much awaited draft merger guidelines (“Draft Guidelines”). The Draft Guidelines are intended to replace two current and dated guidance documents: the Commission’s...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s May 1, 2026 consent order involving “micromarket kiosk” companies illustrates how the agency is applying modern merger enforcement principles beyond the big technology platforms that typically...more
Life Science (Pharma and Medical Devices): EU Pharma Package’s final texts published; EU is advancing several initiatives to improve clinical trial processes; European Commission proposes shifting AI medical device oversight...more
On 30 April 2026, the European Commission (EC) published a draft of its updated merger guidelines setting out the analytical framework that the EC will use to assess mergers (Draft Guidelines)....more
On 30 April 2026, the European Commission published its recast 2026 draft merger guidelines, which would replace the current horizontal and non-horizontal regime with a single, unified framework, with the stated ambition of...more
On 30 April 2026, almost a year after the launch of its public consultation, the European Commission (Commission) published its eagerly awaited revised draft Merger Guidelines (Draft Guidelines). The draft text, just shy of...more
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have approved the company’s proposed merger with Paramount Skydance, clearing a major corporate hurdle while leaving unresolved the substantial federal and state antitrust scrutiny hanging...more
As 2025 progressed, competition law enforcement became increasingly policy-driven, influenced by domestic political agendas and transatlantic tensions with direct consequences for dealmaking, compliance, and regulatory risk....more
The Competition Bureau (Bureau) has released for consultation draft Merger Enforcement Guidelines (draft MEGs), updating its last comprehensive merger guidelines issued in 2011 (2011 MEGs). The draft MEGs seek to describe the...more
On December 11, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it would challenge the $725 million deal by which German company Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and its U.S.-based subsidiaries (collectively, Henkel), which...more
On November 13, 2025, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) published for consultation its draft Merger Enforcement Guidelines (Draft MEGs) setting out its enforcement approach to merger reviews under the Competition Act (Act). The...more
Baker Botts was pleased to sponsor the 13th edition of the Global Antitrust Hot Topics: EU, US & Global Perspectives, one of the premier gatherings in the EU Competition law community. The 25 September program featured...more
In the first merger challenge of the Trump Administration, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently moved to block the $627 million acquisition of cardiovascular devicemaker Surmodics by private equity firm GTCR BC...more
The June 2025 Quorum summarized recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission (“Commission” or “FTC”) and Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) indicating the Trump Administration’s rejection of the anti-merger...more
The European Commission has launched a public consultation seeking feedback on its ongoing review of the 20+-year-old EU merger guidelines....more
On 8 May 2025, the European Commission (“the Commission”) launched two public consultations as part of its comprehensive review of the guidelines for horizontal and non-horizontal mergers. ...more
With President Joe Biden's departure, aggressive antitrust enforcers at the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hand over the reins to incoming Trump...more
In an interesting political twist, the difference in approaches to antitrust enforcement between Democrat and Republican Administrations has been narrowing. It used to be that the difference in party control of the Antitrust...more
On October 10, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), with the concurrence of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “Agencies”), announced the most significant changes to the Premerger Notification Rules since the...more
The long-awaited new HSR rules and Form have been released. They go into effect in approximately 90 days (mid-January), unless blocked by a federal judge. Companies engaging in M&A now face increased burdens compared to the...more
In the second quarter, federal and state antitrust enforcers continued their intense scrutiny of consolidation in the healthcare market by implementing new initiatives and laws designed to gather additional information...more
To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
Antitrust issues have cut deeply into the corporate landscape, and this year is shaping up for more of the same. Generative artificial intelligence, merger enforcement, and trial risks stand out as three of the most important...more
On December 18, 2023, The Federal Trade Commission and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice concluded a nearly two-year process of updating both the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines with the release of the...more
In prior posts, we discussed the draft, updated merger guidelines that had been issued by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (sometimes referred to as the “Agencies”) in July of last year. At that...more