Last week’s announcement that the blockbuster $45 billion merger of Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. had fallen through served as a reminder that regulators can thwart deals that once seemed like a sure thing. Even for transactions that ultimately succeed, there are methods that regulators can use to put on the brakes temporarily, costing the companies precious time and resources.
One way the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice can—and sometimes do—stall deals due to concerns about the transactions’ effects on competition is through the use of “second requests,” which were authorized in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. These discovery requests call on companies to sift through massive amounts of data and produce relevant information that will be used by the government to investigate the deal and its potential outcomes.
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