With Enforcers Locked Onto Tech And Antitrust – What Does It Mean For M&A?

With antitrust enforcement of the technology sector making headlines daily, and as lawmakers focus on strengthening and potentially reforming antitrust laws as a tool to regulate the tech industry, we anticipate a significant increase in scrutiny by US federal antitrust authorities of vertical mergers,¹ including merger of complements and so-called "diagonal mergers" in the technology sector.  Notwithstanding the current challenges of vertical merger enforcement,² on June 30, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Department of Justice ("DOJ") issued guidelines (the "Vertical Merger Guidelines")³ describing the practices, techniques and enforcement policies the agencies use to evaluate vertical mergers, and on December 22, 2020, the FTC issued additional guidance on Vertical Merger Enforcement (the "Commentary").⁴  Tech companies and dealmakers should be aware of the type of technology related M&A transactions that may potentially be captured under