Partner Don Pepperman Quoted About FTC Gearing Up for Aggressive Oversight of Mergers – Compliance Week

Waymaker Partner Don Pepperman was quoted about the Federal Trade Commission planning for aggressive oversight of antitrust and M&A in Compliance Week on April 13th . “Be careful about what is documented and in what way,” Pepperman said. “Be very careful about your motives for the merger and how you write it up in any prospectus or internal e-mails or other communications.”

Pepperman recommends executives develop compelling procompetitive reasons for the merger—for example, the merger will create innovative and novel products, enable expansion into new markets, or revive a distressed business. Also, Pepperman recommends a contemporaneous procompetitive analysis be done pre-signing and not in response to an antitrust investigation.