Category: Regulatory
Corp Fin issues new M&A-related CDIs
Last week, the SEC issued a number of new CDIs related primarily to M&A transactions, including Forms 8-K, communications under Rule 14a-12, and, in the context of de-SPAC transactions, the Rule 14e-5 prohibition of purchases outside of a tender offer. To learn more about these updates, please see the recent […]
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Thresholds Jump in 2022
Basic ‘size-of-transaction’ threshold now $101 million The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act thresholds, which govern when mergers and acquisitions must be reported to the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, will jump 9.8% in February 2022. The basic “size-of-transaction” threshold will increase from $92 million to $101 million. The FTC announced […]
Antitrust Trends to Look Out for in 2022
One year into his administration, President Joe Biden has made clear that aggressive competition policy is on the agenda. With a team of progressives filling leadership roles at the Federal Trade Commission and in the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, companies are able to predict what the […]
President Biden’s Executive Order on Competition: Three Important Takeaways for Tech and Life Sciences Companies
On July 9, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” With 72 initiatives and directives by more than a dozen federal agencies, the order seeks to aggressively “reduce the trend of corporate consolidation, increase competition, and deliver concrete benefits to America’s consumers, workers, farmers, and small businesses.” […]
HSR Headwinds: FTC Hits ‘Pause Button’ on HSR Early Terminations
Parties to transactions requiring filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act are already facing considerable headwinds from US President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcement agencies on important substantive and procedural issues that will delay transactions closing and potentially increase compliance costs and burdens. The HSR Act requires parties to transactions that meet certain financial thresholds to notify the […]
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Thresholds Decrease for 2021
Baseline HSR threshold now $92 million The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires that parties to certain transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, acquisitions of voting securities, and assets and minority investments, file notifications with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission and observe a statutory waiting period if the transaction […]
Americas Antitrust Review 2021
Covid-19 has made 2020 into a year like no other with ‘stay at home’ orders and working from home the new normal. Nonetheless, the tech and pharma industries continued to attract immense antitrust scrutiny, with daily reports in the media and pressure from politicians to address what some perceive to […]
IRS Releases Guidance on PPP Loans and Employee Retention Tax Credits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued several items of new guidance relating to loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), including two new FAQs addressing the interaction of PPP loans and employee retention tax credits (ERTCs) in M&A transactions, a Revenue Ruling holding that expenses funded by PPP loans […]
DOJ Issues Merger Remedies Manual as Both DOJ and FTC Step Up Efforts to Enforce Consent Decrees
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division issued a new Merger Remedies Manual on September 3, clarifying the analytical framework it is using to evaluate remedies that may address competitive harms stemming from proposed mergers and acquisitions, as well as from consummated mergers. In announcing the modernized Manual, Assistant […]
SBA Issues Guidance for Borrower Changes of Ownership
Over the last few months, dealmakers have worked creatively in M&A transactions to give borrowers of PPP loans the benefit of their bargain with the government—forgiveness of the loan—rather than treat the PPP loan as outstanding debt requiring discharge at closing (which would typically result in a further reduction in […]