FTC Raises Antitrust Merger Review Threshold to $126.4 Million

Companies pursuing mergers and acquisitions valued at $126.4 million or more will be subject to review by US antitrust enforcers under new guidance released Friday by the Federal Trade Commission.

The figure represents a roughly 6% jump from last year’s deal value threshold that required companies to notify the FTC and Department of Justice of a pending transaction, giving the agencies an initial 30-day window to review it for potential antitrust violations.

Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, a law passed in the 1970s that set up the US’s merger notification program, the FTC must revise the thresholds annually.

The commission voted ...