Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission Seek Information on Serial Acquisitions, Roll-Up Strategies Across U.S. Economy

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly launched a public inquiry to identify serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies throughout the U.S. economy that have led to consolidation and harmed competition.

Serial acquisitions and roll-ups are a form of corporate consolidation where a company becomes larger — and potentially dominant — by buying several smaller firms in the same or related sectors or industries. In a joint Request for Information (RFI), the agencies are seeking information from across the public, including consumers, workers, businesses, advocacy organizations, professional and trade associations, local, state and federal elected officials, academics and others to understand how these strategies can stifle competition.

Corporate actors, including private equity firms, engage in these types of acquisitions across a wide array of markets and industries. These transactions often fall below minimum filing thresholds for mergers and therefore are not reported to the federal antitrust agencies, allowing the acquiring companies to amass significant control over key products, services or labor markets without government scrutiny. These serial acquisitions can reduce competition across an entire industry or business sector, which harms consumers, workers and innovation.

“When companies use serial acquisitions and other roll-up strategies to consolidate industries while evading antitrust scrutiny, they deprive the American people of the benefits of competition,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Public input about where these acquisitions have occurred and how they have impacted competition will help us identify and pursue harmful conduct.”

“Firms can use serial acquisitions to roll up markets, consolidate power and undermine fair competition, all while jacking up prices and degrading quality,” said Chair Lina M. Khan of the FTC. “As the FTC scrutinizes these stealth consolidation schemes, we invite the public to submit information about where serial acquisitions have occurred and their effects.”

The agencies seek information from the public on serial acquisitions in all sectors and industries in the U.S. economy, including but not limited to housing, defense, cybersecurity, distribution businesses, agriculture, construction, aftermarket/repair and professional services markets. Comments submitted in response to this RFI will inform the agencies’ enforcement priorities and future actions.

This RFI complements a parallel government inquiry that seeks to understand how certain health care market transactions by private equity firms and other companies may increase consolidation and generate profits while threatening patients’ health, workers’ safety, quality of care and affordable health care for patients and taxpayers.

The Justice Department and FTC’s latest RFI builds on the agencies’ efforts to ensure federal antitrust enforcement tools keep pace with changes in how companies do business. The agencies have proposed amending the premerger notification forms to require merging companies to each disclose more information about their prior acquisition history. In addition, the department and FTC’s 2023 Merger Guidelines recognize that serial acquisitions may violate the antitrust laws.

The public will have 60 days to submit comments at Regulations.gov, no later than July 22. Once submitted, comments will be posted to Regulations.gov.