Biden’s FTC Gets Serious About Blocking Lockheed’s Proposed Acquisition of Aerojet

August was a busy month in the world of antitrust, and at Centrist Democrats of America, we are thrilled to see some lawmakers and regulators taking action, namely in the world of defense.

Early this month, FTC Chair Lina Khan responded to a letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the Lockheed Aerojet merger.

Sen. Warren had expressed her concern about merger activity in the defense space and the ineffective “behavioral remedies” that have been put in place to protect competition. She writes “Given the questionable effectiveness of these remedies in numerous markets, I urge the FTC to re-evaluate the best method to protect competition when analyzing vertical deals, including not allowing such transactions to proceed in the first place.”

Khan responded to the letter acknowledging the legitimacy of the Senator’s concerns, saying in light of the inadequacies, “[she] believe[s] the antitrust agencies should more frequently consider opposing problematic deals outright.”

Following these releases, we are seeing more possible roadblocks popping up for this acquisition. This week, POLITICO’s Bryan Bender wrote on a report released by Capitol Forum saying that lawyers at the Federal Trade Commission are reviewing the proposed Lockheed-Aerojet merger are, “taking steps toward recommending a full-stop challenge,” to the $4.4 billion deal.

Bender goes on to say that the steps may include collecting evidence, declarations and investigational hearings.

We are cautiously optimistic that progress is being made, and we strongly support the FTC in its efforts to investigate monopolistic acquisitions and shine a light on the consequences of this proposed merger.

Thank you to Senator Warren and Chair Khan for your leadership on this issue to ensure fair competition in the American marketplace.