Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: Justice Department obtains largest-ever settlement in Hart-Scott-Rodino suit against investment firm, (Aug 27, 2026)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

KKR & Co GP LLC will pay $250 million to resolve claims it defied premerger rules.

The Department of Justice announced that it has reached a settlement resolving charges that investment firm KKR & Co. GP LLC failed to comply with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act (HSR Act). KKR will pay a civil penalty of $250 million to resolve allegations that the company repeatedly flouted the premerger antitrust review process and evaded antitrust scrutiny for at least 16 separate transactions (U.S. v. KKR & Co. GP LLC, Case 1:25-cv-00343-LTS (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 2026)).

KKR is a global investment firm headquartered in New York, New York. It is one of the world’s largest investment firms with over $744 billion in total assets under management. The Justice Department alleged that in 2021-2022, KKR failed to make complete and accurate premerger filings for at least 16 transactions. Specifically, KKR violated the HSR Act by altering documents in HSR filings for at least eight of those transactions, failing to make any HSR filing for at least two of those transactions, and systematically omitting required documents in HSR filings for at least 10 of those transactions. KKR is familiar with the HSR Act and its requirements. Since 2021, KKR was required to make more than 100 premerger filings under the HSR Act, according to the agency.

The HSR Act requires parties to a merger, acquisition, or other transaction above a certain size to submit a premerger filing to the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the FTC to facilitate the agencies’ enforcement of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers and acquisitions that threaten to harm competition.

“This historic $250 million civil penalty – more than 20 times any prior HSR penalty obtained by the DOJ – sends a powerful message: the Department is committed to vigorous enforcement of the Act,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “The Act’s requirements protect competition by giving the Justice Department an opportunity to investigate potentially unlawful transactions. Companies that disregard their legal obligations will face serious consequences.”

The Case is No. 1:25-cv-00343-LTS.

Attorneys: David Michael Teslicko, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, for the U.S. D. Bruce Hoffman (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP) for KKR & Co. Inc.

Companies: KKR & Co. Inc.

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