Antitrust Alert: U.S. Agencies Announce Final Rules And Revised Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Form

In the first substantial change to the U.S. premerger filing requirements since 2005, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have issued a revised Premerger Notification and Report Form ("HSR Form") and final amendments to the rules governing the information reporting parties must submit to the FTC and Department of Justice under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 ("HSR Act"). The long-anticipated amendments will take effect 30 days following their publication in the Federal Register, which is anticipated later this week. Parties reporting transactions after the effective date must comply with the new rules.

The new rules require reporting parties to submit new categories of financial information and documents. The new rules also change how revenues from manufactured products are treated. These and the numerous other technical changes in the final rules will not impact how the federal antitrust agencies evaluate the merits of