Insights

Washington – December 19, 2024: Global Competition Review recognized Crowell & Moring’s Antitrust & Competition Group in its 2025 “GCR 100” – a comprehensive list of the world’s leading competition practices. This year marks the 25th edition of the rankings and the 18th consecutive year that Crowell’s Antitrust & Competition Group has been recognized.

Washington – August 15, 2024: The 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 42 Crowell & Moring lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 29 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

The Southern District of Texas published an unsealed version of its January 31, 2025 opinion denying the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin Tempur Sealy’s acquisition of Mattress Firm. The decision marks another loss for vertical merger enforcement efforts, particularly agency efforts to block these deals outright rather than accept settlement “fixes.” This case—coupled with other agency losses like AT&T/Time Warner and Microsoft/Activision—will likely make it even more difficult for enforcers to win vertical merger challenges, particularly when the merging parties lack sufficient market share to foreclose competitors and offer remedies to fix the alleged competitive concerns.

The pending overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) rules faces a new challenge. Published in the Federal Register in November, the final HSR modifications were set to become effective on February 10, but late last week the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a local Chamber chapter, the Business Roundtable, and the American Investment Counsel filed a complaint seeking to block their implementation. While the complaint does not seek a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction, the case further highlights the expanded regulations and additional burden the agencies are seeking to impose on merging parties, and places a spotlight on the issue as the Trump Administration prepares to take control of the antitrust agencies.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced its annual updates to the thresholds and filing fees related to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act). These dollar thresholds are indexed annually based on changes in the U.S. gross national product and the Consumer Price Index.

DOJ’s recent announcement of its establishment of a Procurement Collusion Strike Force elevates the risk of antitrust enforcement for government contractors large and small. The Strike Force will train the acquisition workforce at the federal, state, and local levels to identify and refer suspected bidding misconduct for investigation and potential prosecution.

What factors have led antitrust enforcers and legislators to express concerns about the state of merger enforcement, particularly in digital markets? Are the horizontal and vertical merger guidelines equipped to handle antitrust issues in today’s economy? How have prior transactions by the big tech companies ignited the next wave of potential merger guidelines revisions, and which specific concerns are likely to be addressed? And what should companies across all industries expect if and when the merger guidelines are updated?