Merger Remedies Proposals to Face ‘Skeptical’ FTC, Official Says

The Federal Trade Commission will be “skeptical” about companies’ business divestiture offers made as a remedy in antitrust regulators’ merger approval, an agency official said.

“We have neither the resources nor the mandate to function as an industrial planner,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said Friday at a conference. “Therefore, parties should expect us to be skeptical and risk averse when considering offers to settle in our merger investigations.”

As they undergo merger review, companies often agree to sell off a business unit—typically the units that would overlap after merger closure—to a third-party company in hopes of easing ...