First published in Acquisition International, October 2012
While the U.S. was an early leader in applying antitrust
concepts, it continues to be a leader in applying the most modern
technology and economics to merger control. U.S. merger control
operates very differently than outside the U.S. because the
American filing process is much more predictable than the non-U.S.
process and the investigatory process is much more document and
data intensive than outside of the U.S. We also note that the
process is plagued with inefficiencies and burdensome information
requests.
The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the
"HSR Act") is the statute that governs merger control in
the United States. A filing is required and parties must observe
the applicable waiting period if the size of transaction is greater
than $272.8 million (all of the statutory thresholds are adjusted
annually). Transactions between $68.2 million and $272.8 million
are reportable if one
