August 23, 2018
Antitrust: FTC Adopts New Model Timing Agreement
After issuing a second request as part of the HSR review process, antitrust regulators often seek a “timing agreement” addressing key timing and logistical issues arising in the merger investigation. In a recent blog, the FTC announced that it had adopted a new Model Timing Agreement. This excerpt describes the purpose of these agreements:
Merger investigations commonly involve timing agreements, which—among other things—provide an agreed-upon framework for the timing of certain steps in the investigation. Timing agreements also ensure that FTC staff has notice of parties’ plans to consummate the transaction. Both parties and staff benefit from having such a framework established shortly after issuance of the Request for Additional Information and Documentary Material, also known as a Second Request, as it allows staff and the parties to engage efficiently in a substantive exchange without undue uncertainty during the Second Request review period.
The blog summarizes the key provisions of the Model Timing Agreement, and notes that the FTC expects that future timing agreements will conform, or substantially conform, to this Model.
– John Jenkins