responses to questions about the effects of serial acquisitions on competitors, wages, prices, innovation, and the quality and accessibility of relevant products and services;
information about the business practices of the acquirers, including whether they sold products or services below cost to drive out competitors, forced or incentivized customers to buy exclusively from the acquirer, and more; and
for serial acquisitions executed by private equity firms specifically, information about the firm’s involvement in the business post-acquisition.
Sectors or industries highlighted by key constituencies are likely to be a focus of future investigations.
Firms can expect to see more investigations and enforcement efforts targeting both private equity and non-private equity firms engaged in roll-ups and other serial acquisition strategies.
If implemented, changes to HSR Act will be another tool to identify transactions of interest to the agencies that may have otherwise been missed.
