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The
Biden administration has taken a tougher stance on mergers,
filing some aggressive challenges. It had two court losses just
last week. Several challenges go before judges in the next few
months, including the Justice Department's fight against
JetBlue's purchase of Spirit.
The 51 pages of guidelines by the Justice Department and Federal
Trade Commission described, without naming them, deals like
Amazon.com's purchases of video doorbell Ring in 2018, and said
the antitrust agencies should scrutinize them.
"A platform operator that is also a platform participant has a
conflict of interest from the incentive to give its own products
and services an advantage against other competitors
participating on the platform, harming competition," the draft
guidelines say.
The draft also specifies that a merger should not eliminate a
potential entrant in a concentrated market or create a situation
in which a firm buys a company that provides inputs for the
acquirer's competitors.
The Biden administration's antitrust enforcement has highlighted
labor issues, and the guidelines reflect that.
"Where a merger between employers may substantially lessen
competition for workers, that reduction in labor market
competition may lower wages or slow wage growth, worsen benefits
or working conditions," the guidelines say.
The guidelines reflect how the FTC and Justice Department
currently enforce laws against illegal mergers, which would
replace guidelines from 2010 on companies buying competitors and
2020 guidelines on companies merging with suppliers.
President Joe Biden urged that the guidelines be updated in a
mid-2021 executive order. They will be open for comment for 60
days before they are finalized.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)
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