Antitrust premerger notification just became more complex. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger form underwent substantial changes in February 2025, requiring significantly more information from merging parties. Host Rita Sinkfield Belin and her Skadden colleagues Joe Rancour and Joe Ciani-Dausch offer insights on the new requirements. The discussion highlights the 10 most notable changes, explores how these updates are being implemented and provides initial observations on what may lie ahead.

Name: Rita Sinkfield Belin

Title: Counsel, Antitrust/Competition

Specialty: Rita advises on the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act review process required to obtain federal antitrust approval for various types of acquisitions, including large, complex M&A and joint venture transactions.

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Joe Ciani-Dausch

What he does: Joe represents clients in antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, arbitration and counseling.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “The FTC itself estimated that it would take three times as much time on average to prepare the filing, even more in the case where there are overlaps between the parties. And, as we're preparing filings under the new rules, we're definitely seeing that that is, if anything, I think an underestimate.”

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Joe Rancour

What he does: Joe represents clients in connection with antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, investigations, counseling and litigation.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: "Preparation and self-awareness are going to be the name of the game under the new regime. The aperture is widening in terms of what the government's going to see early in the process. And that doesn't mean that it's a cause for concern. It means that you have to know what's in your files."

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Skadden antitrust partners Aurora Luoma and Bill Batchelor delve into the significant legislative and policy changes in U.K. competition law that took effect at the beginning of 2025. These changes, introduced by the Digital Market Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), aim to address gaps in merger control and the digital markets regime while enhancing the enforcement capabilities of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The conversation highlights changes in the CMA's jurisdiction, particularly in reviewing mergers; procedural changes, such as the ability to fast-track to Phase 2; and the introduction of the strategic market status (SMS) regime. Bill and Aurora also provide insights into the political dimensions influencing the CMA's approach and the potential impact of recent leadership changes within the agency.

Name: Aurora Luoma

Title: Partner, Skadden

Specialty: Aurora has a broad practice covering key areas of competition law, including international merger control, antitrust investigations, state aid and sectoral regulation.

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Bill Batchelor

Title: Partner, Skadden

Specialty: Bill has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.

Connect: LinkedIn

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Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Antitrust regulators throughout the world often use their authority to review transactions that fall below filing thresholds.

Host Julia Zhu invites Skadden colleagues Joseph Rancour and Niels Baeten to discuss how these deals fit in the global regulatory picture. The three antitrust attorneys cover ways in which enforcement is carried out, how deal-makers know if their transactions are called in and what the future holds in this area. Joe describes the legal frameworks and enforcement activities in the U.S., Niels discusses the environment in the EU and U.K. — including implications of the European Court of Justice’s landmark ruling in Illumina/Grail — and Julia covers the view among regulators in the Asia-Pacific region.

Name: Julia Zhu

Title: Counsel, Antitrust/Competition

Specialty: Julia focuses on antitrust and competition law in China, Asia, the European Union and other jurisdictions.

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Joseph Rancour

What he does: Joseph represents clients in connection with antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, investigations, counseling and litigation.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “HSR-reportable deals are certainly going to be the focus of attention for the agencies, but they’ve shown time and again that in cases where non-reportable deals pose significant competition issues … they have no compunction about going after those deals, investigating them and even challenging them when the facts are right.”

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Niels Baeten

What he does: Niels covers all aspects of EU, international and Belgian competition law, including merger control, state aid and foreign subsidies, digital regulation, abuse of dominance, cartels and antitrust compliance issues.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “While the [European] Commission hasn’t yet decided which way to go to review such deals following...