- The Federal Trade Commission flagged greater scrutiny of merger reporting loopholes and non-competes by the five Big Tech companies at its Wednesday open meeting,
- The five included Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).
- Companies are only required to report transactions exceeding $92 million in value under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
- FTC Chair Lina Khan sought to identify potential loopholes in reporting requirements that allow some transactions to “fly under the radar.” Khan wanted FTC to learn from international peers since about one-third of the transactions studied involved foreign targets. Khan also sought further to scrutinize the use of non-compete agreements in merger transactions.
- “Exploring how firms in digital markets may be using acquisitions to lock up talent alongside key assets will be a worthy area of study,” Khan said.
- The collective impact of hundreds of smaller acquisitions can lead to a monopolistic behemoth, Democratic Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said as per the CNBC report.
FTC’s Key Takeaways On BigTech Acquisitions
The Federal Trade Commission flagged greater scrutiny of merger reporting loopholes and non-competes by the five Big Tech companies at…
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