DealLawyers.com Blog

The FTC & DOJ announced the publication of their latest HSR Act Annual Report earlier this month. Here are the key takeaways from this Baker Hostetler alert:

– Forty-one Second Request investigations were opened, and 18 transactions were contested by the Agencies, both down from fiscal year (FY) 2024. But certain industries, including agriculture and food, housing, electricity, and healthcare, remain priorities for the administration.

– Consent orders/decrees have returned as a viable pathway to closing a transaction with a negotiated remedy.

– The trend of increasingly large transactions, in excess of $1 billion, has continued.

– There were 2,006 Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR Act) reportable transactions noticed, a number relatively flat year over year. Early Termination was reintroduced in February 2025, and it was granted for 29 percent of Early Termination requests across the entire year – a sizable increase year over year but still well below the 70+ percent grant rate that was typical before FY 2021.

We’re posting the report and memos in our “Antitrust” Practice Area.

– Meredith Ervine