2.8. Guideline 8: When a Merger Is Part of a Series of Multiple Acquisitions, the Agencies May Examine the Whole Series

A firm that engages in an anticompetitive pattern or strategy of multiple acquisitions in the same or related business lines may violate Section 7. [Endnote 42] In these situations, the Agencies may evaluate the series of acquisitions as part of an industry trend (see Guideline 7) or evaluate the overall pattern or strategy of serial acquisitions by the acquiring firm collectively under Guidelines 1-6.

In expanding antitrust law beyond the Sherman Act through passage of the Clayton Act, Congress intended “to permit intervention in a cumulative process when the effect of an acquisition may be a significant reduction in the vigor of competition, even though this effect may not be so far-reaching as to amount to a combination in restraint of trade, create a monopoly, or constitute an attempt to monopolize.” [Endnote 43] As the Supreme Court has recognized, a cumulative series of mergers can “convert an industry from one of intense competition among many enterprises to one in which three or four large [companies] produce the entire supply.” [Endnote 44] Accordingly, the Agencies will consider individual acquisitions in light of the cumulative effect of related patterns or business strategies.

The Agencies may examine a pattern or strategy of growth through acquisition by examining both the firm’s history and current or future strategic incentives. Historical evidence focuses on the strategic approach taken by the firm to acquisitions (consummated or not), both in the markets at issue and in other markets, to reveal any overall strategic approach to serial acquisitions. Evidence of the firm’s current incentives includes documents and testimony reflecting its plans and strategic incentives both for the individual acquisition and for its position in the industry more broadly. Where one or both of the merging parties has engaged in a pattern or strategy of pursuing consolidation through acquisition, the Agencies will examine the impact of the cumulative strategy under any of the other Guidelines to determine if that strategy may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.

[Endnote 42] Such strategies may also violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act. Fed. Trade Comm’n, Policy Statement Regarding the Scope of Unfair Methods of Competition Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, at 12-14 & nn.73 & 82 (Nov. 10, 2022) (noting that “a series of . . . acquisitions . . . that tend to bring about the harms that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent” has been subject to liability under Section 5).

[Endnote 43] H.R. Rep. No. 81-1191, at 8 (1949).

[Endnote 44] See Brown Shoe, 370 U.S. at 334 (citing S. Rep. No. 81-1775, at 5 (1950); H.R. Rep. No. 81-1191, at 8 (1949)).