|
Ag deals in FTC crosshairs
Story Date: 2/16/2018
| |
Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/15/18
The Federal Trade Commission would take a close look at deals approved by past leadership to determine if regulators went too easy on companies. At least that's the promise of Joseph Simons, the White House's nominee for FTC chairman, reports Pro Ag's Liz Crampton.
During a Senate Commerce confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Simons, said that, if confirmed, he would direct a formal study of closed deals, including some in the agriculture industry. Simons also said he would police the conduct of big agribusinesses. If illegal behavior comes to the agency's attention, he pledged to sue.
Consolidation in agriculture has been coming at a rapid clip, and U.S. regulators have mostly waived these deals through. If the federal government decides to take a more aggressive stance based on information gathered from any potential FTC's merger study, it would mark a new era of antitrust policy under Republicans. (Simons, co-chairman of the antitrust group at the law firm Paul Weiss is a former FTC antitrust official during the George W. Bush administration.)
What's to come: More deals are in the pipeline that will test antitrust regulators' approach. ADM is rumored to buy commodity company Bunge, while Bayer and Monsanto are still awaiting U.S. antitrust approval. Russia has even looked askance at some of these marriages - Bayer sued the Russian antitrust watchdog last week to be given more time to discuss demands made by the regulator.
EU merger cop: Bayer and Monsanto are also facing a tough inquiry with the EU. European Union's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, considered by some to be an antitrust maverick, said recently that Bayer needed to show that a merger with rival Monsanto wouldn't hurt competition in digital farming.
Fear among farmers: Farmers and advocacy groups worry that consolidation will cause prices for seeds, fertilizers and other needs to spike. Last year, a group asked the Justice Department to stop the Bayer-Monsanto combination, saying it would create a vegetable seed monopoly.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who questioned Simons during the Wednesday hearing, said he, too, was worried about how consolidation had hurt farmers. Citing the fact that a handful of companies control the beef, pork and chicken industries, Tester said: "That's not what I would call very capitalistic in my book, and it makes me want to dig Teddy Roosevelt up and bring him back to life."
Antitrust enforcement in the Trump administration: Republican administrations have generally taken a more hands-off approach to merger enforcement than Democrats. But if Simons is anything like Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department's antitrust division - Makan Delrahim - then enforcement at the FTC could be a wild card. Delrahim is behind the division's attempt to block the blockbuster merger of AT&T and Time Warner, surprising many and leading some to think Trump antitrust policy will be more aggressive than expected.
|
|
|
|
