DOJ’s Kanter Says Efficiency Defense for Mergers Is Under Review

US antitrust enforcers are rethinking how much weight to give the cost-savings claims by companies seeking to merge as they rewrite federal guidelines, the Justice Department’s top antitrust official said Tuesday.

Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter said the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission’s forthcoming guidelines will reconsider so-called efficiency arguments for mergers, calling it an area where antitrust policy has diverged from the law.

Jonathan Kanter

Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg

Kanter, speaking at a conference hosted by Georgetown Law School in Washington, declined to say when the new guidelines -- which antitrust enforcers use to assess whether a deal violates antitrust laws ...