The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint request for information (RFI) with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division seeking information from the public on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies (i.e., corporate consolidation by buying smaller firms in the same or similar sectors or industries) in all sectors and industries, including but not limited to construction, housing, agriculture, professional service markets, and distribution business.
This RFI complements a parallel government inquiry that seeks to understand how certain health care market transactions by private equity firms and other corporations may increase consolidation and generate profits while threatening patients’ health, workers’ safety, quality of care, and affordable health care for patients and taxpayers. Per the notice, the FTC is seeking comments addressing: (1) examples of serial acquisitions; (2) the effects of serial acquisitions; (3) serial acquisition business practices; (4) the claimed business objectives of the serial acquisition strategy; and (5) ownership and control in serial acquisitions.
Text of the RFI is available here.