WASHINGTON: US antitrust agencies stepped up the Biden administration’s crackdown on mergers and acquisitions with a sweeping overhaul of rules the government uses to determine whether deals violate competition law.

       The changes come on the heels of several bruising defeats for the government in blocking vertical mergers.

       Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lost a legal fight over Microsoft Corp’s US$69bil (RM314bil) deal to buy Activision Blizzard Inc.

       It was the third big failure for antitrust enforcers, after the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) unsuccessful bids to block UnitedHealth Group Inc from buying up Change Healthcare Inc last year and AT&T Inc’s 2018 Time Warner merger.

       The 13 new guidelines proposed by the Justice Department and FTC are part of an effort to curb the rise of companies that seek to dominate their industries by buying up rivals.

       The agencies are asking for public comments on the proposal over the next 60 days.

       US regulators developed the new guidelines to provide greater transparency to the public and companies about how antitrust enforcers are thinking about the law as markets and industries change, Jonathan Kanter, the DoJ’s top antitrust cop, told Bloomberg TV. — Bloomberg

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