Wall Street Is Ready to Put Lina Khan’s FTC to the Test
The agency may not have the resources to follow through on its aggressive antitrust goals — and dealmakers know it.
Is Lina Khan’s FTC biting off more than it can chew?
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFPAn overburdened U.S. Federal Trade Commission is warning acquirers that if they get impatient and close any deals without the agency’s permission, it just might slap them with a lawsuit. Dealmakers won’t hold their breath.
As President Joe Biden pushes for more aggressive antitrust enforcement — an effort spearheaded by legal scholar Lina Khan, his controversial pick to lead the FTC — the agency is running up against practical limitations. It’s working with very limited resources for a very large number of deals. How large? So far this year, nearly 10,000 U.S. companies agreed to be acquired for a combined deal value of $1.25 trillion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s already surpassed last year’s sum and may even be on track for a record. Not all of those tie-ups will require regulatory approval but in July alone, 343 transactions filed premerger notifications and are awaiting review, compared with 112 in July 2020, according to the FTC.