U.S. FTC Official Provides Practical Guidance On Premerger Gun Jumping Issues

U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) General Counsel William Blumenthal recently delivered a major policy address on "gun jumping" or illegal premature coordination among merging parties. The purpose of the speech was to try to provide improved guidance on what types of premerger coordination activities are permitted and not permitted under the antitrust laws. The FTC general counsel stated that the antitrust agencies recognize that many forms of premerger coordination are "reasonable and even necessary," and he is concerned that merging parties may be acting too conservatively in limiting transition planning due to incorrect views on what the antitrust regulators view as excessive premerger coordination activities. While gun jumping will remain a concern, this speech appears to signal the view of an important regulator that carefully controlled transition planning can be accomplished in most circumstances.