Antitrust-Related Recent Developments: FTC/DOJ Aggressive Merger Enforcement Continues

The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have continued their aggressive stance against proposed mergers that the antitrust agencies perceive as harmful to competition. So far this year, the FTC obtained a preliminary injunction blocking Staples from acquiring Office Depot by focusing its arguments on national competition. The parties subsequently abandoned the transaction. The DOJ effectively blocked Halliburton from acquiring Baker Hughes by rejecting a proposed remedy that it termed "among the most complex and riskiest remedies ever contemplated in an antitrust case." Halliburton reportedly proposed various divestiture packages of assets generating up to $7 billion in revenue, which the corporation argued would facilitate a platform for a new major competitor (or competitors) to enter the markets. Halliburton abandoned the proposed merger on May 1, 2016 after the DOJ filed suit.