Smucker’s in a jam: The Tipline for 6 March 2018

More than a year into the Trump Administration, it would be hard to claim that the antitrust agencies have returned to a Reaganesque era of permissiveness in merger enforcement. Just yesterday, two defence industry companies said they were abandoning a tie-up because of Department of Justice resistance, and the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop an acquisition in the food industry. Each deal was worth less than $300 million.