The last time the DOJ and the FTC devised guidelines governing horizontal mergers, it was 1992. Seventeen years later, the agencies are coming back to the guidelines, hosting a series of workshops across the country. (Source: DOJ Presser.)
The topics that will be considered include:
- the overall method of analysis used by the agencies;
- the use of more direct forms of evidence of competitive effects;
- market definition;
- market shares and market concentration;
- unilateral effects, especially in markets with differentiated products;
- price discrimination;
- geographic market definition;
- the relevance of large buyers;
- the distinction between uncommitted and committed entry;
- the distinction between efficiencies involving fixed and marginal cost savings;
- the non-price effects of mergers, especially the effects of mergers on innovation;
- and remedies.
Later today, the DOJ will post a series of discussion-starting questions, which can be found here, when the page goes live.
