Tracking Alpha
What it is
The US antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act: the parties notify the FTC and the Justice Department and wait out a set period before they may close.
How to read it
The waiting period is usually 30 days, or 15 for a cash tender offer, and the agencies can end it early or extend it with a second request.
Its stages on the deal page:
- Not filed
- The parties haven't filed yet.
- Filed
- Filed, and the waiting period is running.
- Second request
- The agencies asked for more information.
- Challenged
- The FTC or the Justice Department sued to block the deal, or said it will.
- Cleared
- The waiting period expired or was ended early.
- Failed
- A court blocked the deal, or the parties gave it up because of the review.
- Not required
- The filings say no HSR filing is needed.
On the list, HSR shows in the Regulatory column when its status leads the row, such as HSR wait ends Oct 16, and under Still needed while it is pending. The HSR filter picks deals by where their HSR stands. Point at the Regulatory column, or focus it, for the regulatory card: HSR's stage in words, such as Waiting period, ends Oct 16, beside three dots for filed, waiting period and cleared; the date's type; a line on what the stage is when its name doesn't say; and the filing it comes from, which opens its quote.
When the waiting period's end passes and no filing yet says what happened, the column reads HSR wait ended Oct 2, no result, and the card Waiting period ended Oct 2, no result filed. The dots stop short of cleared until a filing says so. When the filings give no stage, the dots are dashed.
The deal sheet draws each approval as three dots, filed, under review, cleared, beside its stage in words:
- Not filed yet
- Filed
- Waiting period, or a review under way
- Cleared
- Pending, the filings give no stage
- The date passed; no filing yet says what happened
Related terms
- Second requestA request from the FTC or the Justice Department for more information about a deal. It extends the HSR waiting period, usually until 30 days after the parties substantially comply, or 10 days after the buyer does in a cash tender offer.
- HSR waiting period endsThe day the HSR waiting period expires, when the filings give it.
- Regulatory columnA deal's approvals in one status, naming the approval it is about.
