DOJ’s revamped remedies manual champions role of divestiture over conduct commitments

MLex Market Insight

A revised merger-remedies manual published by the US Department of Justice is reverberating around the world, as the government agency’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, puts forward rules that place divestitures — rather than conduct commitments — at center stage. The new guidelines will have direct consequences for dealmakers, who may now have to think twice before offering behavioral assurances over promises to simply sell off problematic assets. In Europe, meanwhile, LSE’s $27 billion deal to acquire financial-data company Refinitiv is set to put the European Commission’s regulatory acceptance of conduct commitments to the test.