On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice Antitrust
Division (the Division) published a Merger Remedies Manual
(Remedies Manual), with an updated policy framework for the
structuring and implementation of remedies in proposed mergers that
the Division has determined may substantially lessen competition.
Among other changes, the Remedies Manual formalizes the
Division's recent emphasis on structural remedies, such as
divestitures, and rejection of conduct remedies as inappropriate
except in narrow circumstances. The Remedies Manual emphasizes that
structural remedies are preferred because "they are clean and
certain, effective, and avoid ongoing government regulation of the
market."1 Consequently, the Division will accept a
stand-alone conduct remedy, in vertical as well as horizontal
mergers, only when the parties can satisfy a new and stringent
four-part test.