Three M&A Sectors Big Law Is Watching in Trump Transition

The new Trump administration is primed to usher in a more business-friendly approach to mergers and acquisitions, boosting a key practice area for many top law firms.

Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Trade Commission, has already said he plans to roll back Biden-era regulations and “stop Lina Khan’s war on mergers.” That’s welcome news for companies, but it doesn’t mean regulators are going to completely stop enforcing the law, said Philip Richter, co-head of the M&A practice at Fried Frank.

“The general view is that there will be traditional antitrust enforcement, like there has always been,” Richter said. “I don’t think anyone should think this is going to be an open door and any deal can get through—and there will always be different industries where there’s focus, whether that’s going to be healthcare or technology.”

Ferguson and Mark Meador, whom Trump plans to nominate for another FTC seat, have signaled they want to crack down on large tech companies. So has the president-elect: “Big Tech has run wild for years,” Trump said in a Dec. 4 social media post announcing Gail Slater as his choice to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

Trump has also expressed disapproval of United States Steel Corp’s sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp.

Here are three sectors the Big Law dealmakers are closely watching in 2025.

Energy

Trump’s goal to boost energy production could mean looser oversight of the oil and gas industry, which has already seen significant consolidation.

Several large energy deals were slowed by Biden administration antitrust regulators who used “second requests” to prevent certain transactions from closing during investigations. The FTC allowed high-profile energy deals to go through following the reviews, but some Republicans criticized the agency for needlessly scrutinizing the transactions..

The agency in May cleared Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources Co., on the condition that Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield not join Exxon’s board. The FTC also green-lit Chevron Corp.'s $53 billion purchase of oil rival Hess Corp. in September. ConocoPhillips completed its $17 billion deal to buy Marathon Oil Corp. two months later.

Pending energy deals include oilfield services company SLB’s $7.75 billion acquisition of rival ChampionX, which received a second request for more information from the Justice Department in July. It is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

Banking

Trump’s return to the White House is likely to pave the way for Capital One Financial Corp.'s takeover of Discover Financial Services, which will create the world’s largest credit card issuer by loan volume. Both companies saw shares spike following Trump’s November win.

The deal is pending approval from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while the DOJ could still weigh in.

Regulators will also inherit several existing cases, including the Justice Department’s September lawsuit against Visa, which alleges that Visa has a monopoly over debit network markets. Meador worked on DOJ antitrust investigations in the first Trump administration, including the department’s challenge of Visa’s proposed $5.3 billion merger with Plaid. The companies walked away from the deal after the department sued to block it.

Tech

Trump and his backers have been vocal critics of the industry, promising on the campaign trail to put tech companies under a microscope in his second term.

Antitrust regulators will inherit ongoing cases against Amazon, Google, and Meta, as well as an investigation into Microsoft. They will have big decisions to make, including whether to continue the Biden DOJ’s push to break up Google.

Meador was an adviser to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) when he introduced a bill that would have forced Google to break up its digital advertising business.

Trump and other Republicans also have long complained about perceived censorship by Big Tech companies.

“At the FTC, we will end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech,” Ferguson wrote in a memo circulated after Trump announced Ferguson would be tapped to lead the agency.