Gillian Tan, Columnist

A Second Chance for Sysco-US Foods?

A Republican-dominated FTC may take a friendlier view of the merger -- and others, too.

December 12, 2016 at 12:30 PM UTC

Gillian Tan is a senior reporter covering finance and alternative asset classes including real estate, infrastructure, private equity, private credit, venture capital and sports business. She previously wrote an opinion column for Bloomberg and was a reporter at the Wall Street Journal. She is a qualified chartered accountant.

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As merger activity crescendoed in recent years, U.S. antitrust regulators under President Obama developed a reputation for taking a hard line, especially regarding the biggest transactions.

Just this year, they shot down mergers between Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. as well as Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc., and are in the process of trying to block two giant health insurance deals. But once Donald Trump assumes office and his Republican administration takes over, there could be a change in tone -- so much so that in some cases, it may be worth it for companies to try again.