Clifford Chance

The Pre-Merger Notification Office of the FTC Updates the Size of the Transaction Test for Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs)

13 October 2016

The Pre-Merger Notification Office of the Federal Trade Commission, which administers the pre-merger notification program under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (together with the notification program "HSR filing"), has updated its position on how parties must consider new debt in leveraged buyout transactions when determining the size of a transaction for HSR filing purposes. The size of the transaction test excludes certain transactions from the HSR Act's reporting requirements if they are valued below the annually adjusted dollar threshold. The current size of the transaction threshold is $78.2 million.

Download PDF