Antitrust merger regulation is highly specialized and it is not easy to grasp the overall picture. Not many companies have extensive experience of merger reviews and if a company fails to address the issue until it is faced with a large-scale M&A project that will decide its fate, it may be too late. So, we recommend that companies acquire an in-depth understanding of these reviews as far in advance as possible. Furthermore, JFTC's practical application of antitrust merger regulations and reviews has changed significantly in recent years, with a strong push toward decision-making that explicitly takes into account evidence that is based on economic analysis.

At the seminar, practicing economists from the JFTC Corporate Mergers Division and NERA who have been involved in a variety of mergers gave a general briefing on merger-related guidelines and then, based on case studies of key mergers, explained recent trends in JFTC review methods for mergers (including economic analysis) and the Commission’s thinking.