"Killer Acquisitions" – The Antitrust Agencies' Focus on Acquisitions of Nascent Competitors

Acquisitions by big tech companies of innovative complementary start-ups have recently attracted lots of attention from US antitrust authorities.  These deals can help foster innovation, giving the start-up access to vast resources and complementary technologies.  But antitrust authorities now may view these deals as “killer acquisitions,” i.e., the big tech company snuffs out potential future competition by acquiring the innovative start-up.  In fact, the FTC is now not only scrutinizing proposed mergers, but also some tech deals that closed years ago.  We’ll discuss how antitrust enforcement of big tech acquisitions has evolved and what’s to come over the next few years.