Citing Backlog, FTC Reserves Delayed Investigatory Rights
The FTC reserves the right to challenge a transaction regardless of whether the deal was fully investigated before Hart-Scott-Rodino Act “clearance,” acting Competition Bureau Director Holly Vedova wrote Tuesday. Citing a “tidal wave of merger filings that is straining the…
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agency’s capacity to rigorously investigate deals ahead of the statutory deadlines,” she said the agency is sending standard form letters informing companies that the FTC’s “investigation remains open and reminding companies that the agency may subsequently determine that the deal was unlawful.” Companies that proceed without a full investigation are doing so at their own risk, she wrote: “This action should not be construed as a determination that the deal is unlawful, just as the fact that we have not issued such a letter with respect to an HSR filing should not be construed as a determination that a deal is lawful.”