Private Equity And Serial Acquisitions Continue To Feel The Antitrust Heat

Private equity acquisitions—notably roll-up strategies—continued to face antitrust scrutiny in 2024. As did serial acquisitions by non-PE acquirers. Headwinds were particularly strong in the U.S., but breezes from other jurisdictions are starting to gain momentum. Overall, the regulatory burden, especially for PE firms, is mounting.

Serial acquisitions under attack

Concerns over serial acquisitions gathered pace during 2024. Antitrust authorities want to look closely at purchases of small businesses with a view to combining them into a larger entity that concentrates market power. Often, however, these individual acquisitions fall below merger control thresholds, creating review challenges for agencies (also see our article Rising review risk for deals not meeting merger control thresholds).