Will the FTC Match DOJ’s Efforts to Speed Up Merger Reviews?

On October 3, 2018, at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights (“Hearing”), Makan Delrahim, the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), announced efforts by DOJ to “modernize and speed up the process of merger review.” Among other things, DOJ stated that it would endeavor to resolve most merger investigations within six months of filings. Relatedly, DOJ plans to make modifications to its second request process, including reforms to its timing agreements with merging parties.

However, many health care-related transactions, including hospital and physician mergers, are primarily reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), and it is not clear what, if anything, the FTC will do to speed up its merger review process. In remarks at the Hearing, the FTC revealed the following:

In response to concerns that merger investigations are taking longer than they used to, the Bureau [of Competition] has developed a more robust system of tracking key milestones in the merger review process to determine whether this perception has merit and, if so, why some reviews may be taking longer. Armed with better information, the Bureau will assess what might be done to make the merger review process more efficient and less burdensome, while still ensuring the right outcome for consumers.

But the results of this tracking have yet to be seen, and how the FTC might move to speed up the merger review process is unknown. For now, parties to a health care-related transaction under review by the FTC should anticipate a merger review period that could last as long as (and, in some situations, in excess of) 10 months if the transaction presents any serious concerns.


For additional information about the issues discussed above, or if you have any other antitrust concerns, please contact the Epstein Becker Green attorney who regularly handles your legal matters, or one of the authors of this Antitrust Byte:

E. John Steren
Member of the Firm
esteren@ebglaw.com
Patricia Wagner
Member of the Firm,
Chief Privacy Officer
pwagner@ebglaw.com

Services

Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.