Gregory Neppl Shares Insight on Government Shutdown Impact for M&A Review

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Gregory Neppl commented on the federal government shutdown’s consequences for pending mergers in the Bloomberg Law article, “Shutdown Threatens to Add Merger Costs, Delay Deal Approvals.”

Neppl, author of this recent Foley blog on navigating Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings during the shutdown cited in the article, told Bloomberg Law that while relatively straight deals free of antitrust concerns likely won’t be impacted much by the government furloughs, they will still need to wait out the full statutory 30-day waiting period for HSR reviews.

He noted that companies also might have to dedicate more time to answering questions about their filings as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have fewer staff on hand reviewing premerger notifications.

Neppl added that the level of impact to mergers and acquisitions reviews ultimately depends on how long the government shutdown lasts.