United States: Holding Up The Green: Hart-Scott-Rodino And Its Impact On Cannabis M&A Transactions

United States: Holding Up The Green: Hart-Scott-Rodino And Its Impact On Cannabis M&A Transactions

Published Via Mondaq at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/865746/food+drugs+law/Holding+Up+The+Green+HartScottRodino+And+Its+Impact+On+Cannabis+MA+Transactions Last Updated: November 19 2019 Article by Kayla Siam Seyfarth Shaw LLP Although the federal government seems to have turned a blind eye to the legalization of the medical and even recreational use of cannabis in certain states, they have not relinquished their duty to maintain competitive markets in the U.S. Over the past year, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have used their powers under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”) to investigate mergers and acquisitions in the cannabis market, even though the operations of such business are essentially illegal under federal law. The HSR Act was established to provide a way for the federal government to review pending merger and acquisition transactions in the U.S. to prevent anticompetitive deals from being closed. In its simplest terms, parties to a transaction that meet or exceed certain asset or sales values, or are engaged in a transaction that meets or exceeds certain value thresholds, must put the FTC and the DOJ on notice of the transaction. After an HSR filing has been completed by both parties, there is a specified “waiting period” (depending on the type…