Under the Spotlight: A recent FTC data report reveals that oil and pharmaceutical mergers attract a lot of attention when it comes to antitrust scrutiny

On 4 January 2013, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a data report on its horizontal merger investigation and enforcement record over the past 15 years. The report shows, sector-by-sector, the level of market concentration triggering FTC action, as well as the impact of other antitrust enforcement such as the presence of hot documents and the presence of strong customer complaints.

One major feature of the report is that oil sector and pharmaceutical sector mergers stand out for antitrust scrutiny. Another important lesson is that counsel should focus even more on managing document creation and customer communications. To keep reading, download the full article which starts on page 4 of the pdf.