M&A Notifications to FTC, DOJ in FY 2021 Hit All-Time High (1)

Federal antitrust regulators received 3,520 mergers and acquisition notifications from companies in fiscal year 2021, a record high that doubled the previous year’s total.

The figures, released Friday by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division, highlight the feverish pace of acquisitions undertaken in the midst of the pandemic.

Companies looking to acquire or merge in deals valued at a certain amount are required under the 1976 Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to notify the agencies for approval. The M&A pace has somewhat slowed since the height of the pandemic. But the regulators have been vocal about their limited ...