The Obama Justice Department
developed a track record in challenging horizontal mergers and
acquisitions—those in which a company buys a direct competitor—in industries
that are already highly concentrated. In deals that are not between direct
rivals, such as those that occur in vertical integration, the Obama
Administration approved the deals, albeit with the imposition of legally
binding restrictions on the acquirer’s ability to use its “in house” supplier
to engage in unfair competition.
The full essay is at "Vertical and Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions."
