The Department of Justice has released an updated merger review framework that significantly raises the bar for large corporate combinations to win regulatory approval. The new guidelines focus heavily on labor market impacts and supply chain concentration.
Corporate law firms are advising clients to expect longer review timelines and more rigorous documentation requirements. Several pending mega-mergers may need to be restructured to satisfy the new criteria.
Business groups have criticized the framework as overly restrictive, while consumer advocates have applauded it as a long-overdue correction to decades of permissive merger policy.
