DealLawyers.com Blog

If you were among those hoping that the Trump administration’s antitrust regulators might revisit the controversial 2023 Merger Guidelines, this WilmerHale memo says you’re going to be disappointed. Here’s the intro:

Since their release, the federal antitrust agencies’ 2023 Merger Guidelines (2023 Guidelines) have faced significant criticism from many. There was speculation that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) under the new Trump Administration would revoke or significantly revise the 2023 Guidelines. On February 18, however, FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division leadership confirmed that the joint FTC/DOJ 2023 Merger Guidelines will remain in effect as the agencies’ framework for the merger review process.

The timing of these announcements was notable. They came just as the FTC was receiving a rush of Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) notifications, many of which seemingly were expedited to avoid the new HSR form that went into effect on February 10, 2025. The new HSR form is another major change during the Biden Administration that apparently will survive the turnover at the agencies.

However, the memo also notes that while the Guidelines remain in place, it remains to be seen how the FTC and DOJ will undertake merger enforcement and the extent to which their enforcement program will differ from that of those agencies during the Biden administration.

– John Jenkins