Private Equity-Backed Small Deals Set for DOJ Antitrust Scrutiny

The US Justice Department is looking beyond the large transactions reported to federal antitrust agencies to inform and bolster its antitrust cases in court, the Antitrust Division’s top litigator said.

Companies pursuing mergers and acquisitions valued at or above $119.5 million are subject to antitrust review by federal regulators, as mandated by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. But deals below that threshold also warrant significant attention because they offer insights into where an industry is headed and can shape how the DOJ frames its cases, including those involving private equity, said Hetal Doshi, who oversees the division’s litigation efforts.

“There is so ...