Two days ago, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice issued new and more restrictive guidelines for when the government will challenge business combinations in various categories.  These new guidelines define when the government will take action, and do not constitute law, but the government hopes they will impress the courts as the expression of agency expertise which the courts should follow.  These guidelines certainly define cases where businesses will find themselves being investigated and sued.

The new guidelines are extensive and nuanced; below are just a few highlights. Generally, the new guidelines shift some focus from protecting the consumer from high prices set by monopolies to a goal of both nipping that risk in the bud while considering impact of business concentration on the labor force (which has never been seen as a goal of anti-trust enforcement before).

High points:

*Focus on healthcare and roll-ups generally, with an eye on PE firm platform models (see prior post foreshadowing this focus, December 13, 2023)

*Lowering the level of concentration in a relevant market that will trigger either an investigation of a deal OR declaration of presumption of violation (and increased risk of litigation)

*Focus on coordination between competitors by reason of use of AI such as  pricing algorithms which will lead competitors to the same pricing decision (the risks of such an approach are interesting–what if independent examination of  available facts does lead to similar pricing?)

*How will a deal affect labor when competitors merge (a good question of public policy, but not contained in anti-trust laws which were mostly crafted at a time when even the legitimacy of unions themselves was being questioned)?

*Concerns over, or presumption of, illegality when a deal eliminates a potential competitor, or ties up access to a key component used by competitors

*Examination of effect of acquisition of partial or minority stakes in other companies

*Removal of several statements suggesting lack of problem with certain defined  mergers; now the focus can be based on a series of small deals, and a new deal can open inquiry into prior completed and presumable acceptable deals.

Final observation: anti-trust risk disappeared on many fronts over the last few decades, but has come roaring back in this Administration.  While it is a pleasure for a lawyer to say that companies doing deals need to consult anti-trust counsel, it is also correct advice in an increased number of cases, even of relatively small size.  Deals no longer need to be “big” to be “bad.”