Holland & Hart antitrust partner Cory Talbot shared insights with Policy and Regulatory Report (PaRR) on the updated draft Hart-Scott-Rodino Act pre-merger notification guidelines proposed by the FTC and DOJ. The new requirements and costs are likely to impact smaller transactions most. Talbot shared, “It is unclear whether the agencies will be able to manage or have use for much of the copious amounts of new information that the rule change will generate.” He added, “In cases of large, transformational megadeals or those with legitimate concerns about the lessening of competition, collecting the additional information up front might ultimately make those reviews more efficient” and “For the overwhelming majority of transactions that I work on, this will simply be a significantly increased workload on the parties with no impact on what ultimately happens when the agencies look at it,” Talbot said.
Read the full article here, “HSR merger notification changes will hurt small dealmaking most, advisors say,” August 4, 2023, (PaRR subscription needed)