U.S. Antitrust Agencies Finalize Updates to Horizontal Merger Guidelines

On August 19, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (together, the agencies) issued new Horizontal Merger Guidelines (the Guidelines) to explain and clarify their current enforcement philosophy.

The new Guidelines much more closely reflect actual agency policy, which has evolved substantially since the agencies issued the last version of the Guidelines in 1992. They reflect the continuing evolution away from an emphasis on market shares and concentration to an examination of the likely competitive effects of a transaction. As we explained in our April 26 LawFlash,¹ issued shortly after the agencies issued the new Guidelines in draft form, the new Guidelines set out the variety of analytic methodologies that the agencies employ, and explain how they will analyze competitive effects.