FTC Raises Both Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Filing And Interlocking Directorate Thresholds

On January 26, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its annual revision of the filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act), increasing the minimum reportable transaction from $80.8 million to $84.4 million. The FTC also announced revisions to thresholds relating to prohibitions on interlocking directorates under Section 8 of the Clayton Act.

HSR Reporting Thresholds

Under the HSR Act, parties may be required to file notification of various asset and stock acquisitions with the FTC and Department of Justice and observe a waiting period before closing. The thresholds for filing are revised annually to adjust for inflation. On January 19, the FTC announced new thresholds, which included increasing the lowest transaction value threshold from $80.8 million to $84.4 million. Higher valuation thresholds and the size of parties thresholds were also increased.