The Antitrust Division is Not Opposed to All Vertical Mergers

On June 7, 2018, the DOJ’s Makan Delrahim sought to reassure investors that worries that regulators would crack down on proposed vertical combinations were over-blown.  “I understand that some journalists and observers have recently expressed concern that the Antitrust Division no longer believes that vertical mergers can be efficient and beneficial to competition and consumers,” he said.  Noting that some point at the decision to sue to block AT&T from buying Time Warner “as a supposed bellwether”, Delrahim said: “rest assured these concerns are misplaced.”

So, is the Antitrust Division only concerned about vertical mergers in the media industry?