FTC Restores Pre-1995 Merger Restrictions

The FTC restored a “long-established practice of routinely restricting future acquisitions for merging parties that pursue anticompetitive mergers,” the commission announced Monday. Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson dissented in the 3-2 vote approving a prior approval policy statement. The statement “puts industry on notice” that merger enforcement orders will “require acquisitive firms to obtain prior approval from the agency before closing any future transaction affecting each relevant market for which a violation was alleged, for a minimum of ten years,” the agency said. A 1995 policy statement rescinded in July (see 2107210061) “had fueled consolidation by preventing the agency from imposing these merger restrictions,” the agency said.