The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will conduct public forums over the next three months to hear customers, employees, investors, startups and other stakeholders about the effects of mergers and acquisitions.
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter and FTC Chair Lina Khan will lead the virtual forums that will look into how M&As may impact and reduce competition in labor markets and certain industries, DOJ said Thursday.
Insights from the listening forums will supplement the efforts of FTC and DOJ’s antitrust division as they seek feedback on merger enforcement guidelines. Comments on the guidelines are due April 21st.
The first forum will be held on March 28th and will focus on food and agriculture and the health care-centered forum will occur on April 14th. The third and fourth meetings will deal with media and entertainment and technology and will take place on April 27th and May 12th, respectively.
The two agencies will also host the Spring Enforcers Summit on April 4th to advance discussions over merger guidelines and interagency collaboration.