Melissa Sawyer, Global Head of M&A, recently spoke to
Reuters about the unprecedented amount of regulatory challenges to U.S. mergers. The article notes that 22 merger challenges were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission during the first year of the Biden administration, outnumbering antitrust challenges brought during both President Obama and President Trump’s first two years in office.
Melissa emphasized the need for merger parties to brace themselves for lengthy antitrust battles that could hold up deals. "As you're negotiating things like interim operating covenants that govern what you can and cannot do between signing and closing, you should view them through the lens of having to live with them for 12 to 18 months in some cases," she noted.
Read the article, “
Dealmakers grapple with unprecedented U.S. challenge to mergers.”