Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: FTC and DOJ issue Hart-Scott-Rodino Report, (Aug 13, 2015)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

The FTC and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust released the 37th Annual Hart-Scott-Rodino Report yesterday on the data on the agencies’ HSR Premerger Notification Program and enforcement activities for the 2014 fiscal year. The report also includes statistical tables profiling HSR filings and investigations. Appendices provide a summary of transactions for the past ten years, the number of transactions reported, and the number of filings received by month during each fiscal year.

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 enables the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ to obtain effective preliminary relief against anticompetitive mergers, and to prevent interim harm to competition and consumers. The HSR Premerger Notification Program allows the FTC and DOJ to identify and challenge transactions that may substantially lessen competition in violation of federal antitrust laws.

According to the report, 1,663 transactions were reported to antitrust agencies during FY 2014, a 25 percent increase from the transactions reported in FY 2013, and the highest level since FY 2008. The agencies brought 33 enforcement actions in broad sectors of the economy including consumer goods and services, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, high tech and industrial goods, and energy.

Over the past three years, the percentage of reportable merger transactions valued at more than $500 million has steadily increased. Large transactions make up an increasing percentage of mergers notified to the agencies. Roughly one-third of HSR-reportable mergers in FY 2014 were valued at over $500 million.

The vast majority of reportable transactions do not raise competitive concerns that merit in-depth review. The percentage of transactions resulting in a request for additional information (a Second Request) remained consistent, ranging from a low of 2.5% to a high of 4.5% for both agencies combined.

Nearly one third of notified transactions involved the purchase of a company in the consumer goods and services market. Other areas of focus for the FTC included pharmaceuticals and mergers between health care providers.

News: Antitrust FederalTradeCommissionNews