The one that got away?: The Tipline for 6 August 2019

The Federal Trade Commission might not be doing as many merger retrospectives as commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter would like, but reports suggest the agency is taking a closer look at some Facebook mergers it approved in the past. If you’ve ever been to an antitrust conference, there is a solid chance you heard a panellist question the social network’s acquisitions of Instagram and Whatsapp as an attempt to snare rising foes. We may never see the end result of the commission’s review – outside of a lawsuit or a Freedom of Information Act filing error – but the second look reminds businesses that there are technically no finish lines in the world of merger control.