“In my opinion, when the division concludes that a merger is likely to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly, in most cases we should seek a simple injunction to block the transaction,” said Mr. Kanter, who was confirmed in office in November and is one of three progressives appointed to the highest antitrust positions in the United States.
Mr. Kanter has taken the helm of the division at a time of rising inflation, including in key industries like meat production, and growing concern that a handful of companies have become too powerful in a number of sectors of the economy.
Kanter argued that asset sales, or divestitures, can fail because the company buying the assets fails to fully utilize them. He also noted that it was often difficult to devise behavioral remedies, such as creating a firewall separating two areas of a business.
“That’s not to say that divestitures should never be an option. Sometimes business units are low-key and comprehensive enough that separating them from the parent company in a non-dynamic market is a simple exercise where divestiture can have a degree of high certainty of success,” Kanter said. “But in my opinion, these circumstances are the exception and not the rule.”