The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have jointly announced the publication of the 2023 Merger Guidelines. These guidelines elucidate the factors and frameworks that these agencies utilize in their review of mergers and acquisitions.

"These finalized Guidelines provide transparency into how the Justice Department is protecting the American people from the ways in which unlawful, anticompetitive practices manifest themselves in our modern economy," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a joint press release.

According to the same press release, a two-year public engagement process was undertaken for the 2023 Merger Guidelines. This process began in January 2022 when both agencies initiated an effort to explore potential revisions to the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines. A Request for Information on Merger Enforcement was published, inviting public commentary on "how the agencies can modernize enforcement of the antitrust laws regarding mergers." This request elicited over 5,000 comments. The Draft Merger Guidelines, released in July, received more than 30,000 comments. Additional feedback was sourced from three Merger Guidelines Workshops.

"We were grateful to hear from authors, nurses, farmers, and other concerned citizens from across the country as we worked to put together the 2023 Merger Guidelines. Their comments were invaluable — and our merger enforcement will be better as a result," stated Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division in the press release.

The press release also clarified that while these 2023 Merger Guidelines are not legally binding nor do they predetermine enforcement action, their intention is to provide transparency into how these agencies review acquisitions and mergers.