The overall number of merger deals may have been down last year, but proportionately more of them got a second look by federal enforcement agencies, the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice shows.
The FTC and DoJ have published their annual Hart-Scott-Rodino Act report for fiscal 2009. Under the HSR Act, the parties must notify the agencies of proposed transactions that exceed a certain dollar threshold (currently $63.4 million).
