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Event Description

The workshop will be the second in a two-part series hosted together with the Department of Justice. The two workshops will allow for a dynamic discussion about the proposed guidelines to complement the written public comments about the proposed guidelines that were submitted to the agencies.

The proposed guidelines describe how the federal antitrust agencies review vertical mergers to evaluate whether they violate antitrust law. Vertical mergers combine two or more companies that operate at different levels of the supply chain. The proposed guidelines outline the agencies’ principal analytical techniques, practices, and enforcement policy for vertical mergers. The FTC and the Department of Justice cooperated closely in preparing the proposed guidelines, which reflect the agencies’ significant experience in analyzing vertical mergers. The guidelines are intended to assist the business community and antitrust practitioners by providing transparency about the agencies’ antitrust enforcement practices with respect to vertical mergers.

The agencies will consider both public comments and workshop discussions before issuing final vertical merger guidelines. 

  • Request for Comments

    Comments on the draft guidelines can be submitted to VMG Comments, and must be received no later than Feb. 26, 2020. Commenters may indicate whether they are interested in speaking at the workshops. Speaking requests should indicate whether the proposed speaker is affiliated with any entity that has provided funding for research, analysis, or commentary on relevant topics.

    Public Comments Received on Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines

FTC Privacy Policy

Under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) or other laws, we may be required to disclose to outside organizations the information you provide when you pre-register for events that require registration. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, and as a matter of discretion, we make every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from the public comments before posting them on the FTC website.

The FTC Act and other laws we administer permit the collection of your pre-registration contact information and the comments you file to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission’s Privacy Act system for public records and comprehensive privacy policy.

This event will be open to the public and may be photographed, videotaped, webcast, or otherwise recorded.  By participating in this event, you are agreeing that your image — and anything you say or submit — may be posted indefinitely at ftc.gov or on one of the Commission's publicly available social media sites.

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