FTC and DOJ Extend Deadline for Public Comment on Ways to Strengthen Enforcement Against Illegal Mergers

Today, the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice are extending by one month the deadline to submit comments as part of the enforcement agencies’ process to modernize the merger guidelines to better detect and prevent anticompetitive deals. The new deadline is April 21, 2022.

In January, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division launched a joint public inquiry aimed at strengthening enforcement against illegal mergers. Recent evidence indicates that many industries across the economy are becoming more concentrated and less competitive – imperiling choice and economic gains for consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. These problems are likely to persist or worsen due to an ongoing merger surge that has more than doubled merger filings from 2020 to 2021. To address mounting concerns, the agencies announced in January that they were soliciting public input on ways to modernize federal merger guidelines to better detect and prevent illegal, anticompetitive deals in today’s modern markets.