FTC Announces New HSR And Section 8 Thresholds

The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday the most significant changes to the jurisdictional thresholds and filing fees applicable to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act) in several decades.

The HSR Act requires that certain large transactions be notified to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission prior to their consummation. This year, the minimum "size-of-transaction" threshold for reporting mergers and acquisitions will increase substantially from $101 million to $111.4 million. The "size-of-person" threshold will also increase.

Notifications made under the HSR Act also require the payment of a filing fee, which has historically increased annually based on changes to the U.S. consumer price index. Pursuant to the recently-enacted Fee Modernization Act, the FTC has adopted a new structure-increasing the number of tiers from three to six-and including significant changes to the filing fees themselves.