Extract from Doug Austin’s article “The Need for Speed in eDiscovery for HSR Second Requests”
In the 80’s movie Top Gun, the elite fighter pilot Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) uttered the famous line, “I feel the need for speed”. The latest post from Cimplifi discusses how government timetables for HSR second requests forces a need for speed for discovery!
Their post (eDiscovery for HSR Second Requests: Satisfying the Need for Speed) discusses the Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (commonly known as the HSR Act), how second requests fit into that process and recent HSR second request trends.
The HSR Act requires that parties wait to complete certain mergers, acquisitions or transfers of securities or assets, including grants of executive compensation, until they have made a detailed filing with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) and waited for those government agencies to determine that the transaction will not adversely affect U.S. commerce under antitrust laws. If the FTC or DOJ seeks additional information through what is known as a “second request,” the law forbids merging firms from consummating a transaction until the companies have substantially complied with the additional investigatory request.
