FTC and DOJ Finalize Merger Guidelines: Client Alert Digest

Summary

This client alert digest discusses the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) final Merger Guidelines, issued on December 18, 2023, which replace the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines. The Merger Guidelines are designed to explain to the business community, practitioners, and courts how the DOJ and FTC identify potentially illegal mergers. The proposed Merger Guidelines were issued on July 19, 2023, following which the agencies held three workshops and received more than 30,000 comments. The final Merger Guidelines were changed in a few ways from the proposed Merger Guidelines, described briefly below, but remain broadly consistent with the Biden-era approach to stricter enforcement of the antitrust laws.