Ken Heyer, Sheldon Kimmel, Nov 01, 2009
In recessions, we expect to see an increase in both the number and share of mergers where at least one of the parties is having difficulty independently staying afloat. This raises the importance of adopting a sound framework for analyzing merging firms in some form of financial distress. This paper concludes that, while it can be hard to evaluate a failing firm defense under the Merger Guidelines, the principles underlying the test are generally sound, even when the overall economy is going through very difficult times. The recent severe downturn may lead to more proposed mergers between financially distressed firms, but it does not imply that looser standards ought to be applied when evaluating them
Featured News
Wave of Departures Hits Justice Department’s Antitrust Division
Apr 8, 2026 by
CPI
AI-Powered Shopping by Google Raises New Competition Questions
Apr 8, 2026 by
CPI
SEC Fills Top Enforcement Role Following Resignation
Apr 8, 2026 by
CPI
Anthropic Joins Forces With Amazon, Microsoft, Apple on Cyber Defense AI
Apr 8, 2026 by
CPI
Hungary Competition Official Alleges Political Pressure as Election Nears
Apr 8, 2026 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Competitor Collaborations
Mar 26, 2026 by
CPI
Between Scylla and Charybdis – Navigating Transatlantic Antitrust Currents
Mar 26, 2026 by
Tilman Kuhn & Niklas Brüggemann
Cartel Enforcement Moves Into the Labor Market: Trends and Implications
Mar 26, 2026 by
Andreas Kafetzopoulos & Caroline Janssens
Rethinking Buy-Side Antitrust “Group Boycotts”
Mar 26, 2026 by
Craig Falls & Brendan McGuire
Positive Collaborations: The Tools Available to Competition Authorities to Encourage Beneficial Interactions Between Competitors
Mar 26, 2026 by
Rona Bar-Isaac & Thomas Withers