Antitrust was a hot topic in 2020. Enforcement remained highly active, especially by the FTC, which filed more merger challenges than in any year since 2001. The DOJ and FTC continued to increase their focus on nascent competition, casting aside conventional practice to thwart firms' acquisitions of start-up competitors. Big Tech took center stage as lawsuits were filed, congressional hearings were held, and public debate raged over antitrust's role in addressing the rise of dynamic digital platforms. Here's a recap of the major events of 2020 and issues to watch for in 2021.

Merger Enforcement

Nascent competition challenges continue. The DOJ and FTC continued to ratchet up their focus on transactions involving nascent competition, with the FTC boasting in its 2020 fiscal year report that "remarkably, six of our public merger cases this year … involved nascent or potential competition theories." As we discussed in our 2019 annual review, the DOJ and FTC have recently concentrated on thwarting "killer acquisitions," i.e., where firms with large market shares purchase start-up competitors that potentially could one day challenge those firms. This is a shift from conventional practice, in which mergers that do not substantially increase market share or market concentration were unlikely to be challenged.